Fraunhofer IME to strengthen EU-Africa collaboration

Professor Dr Rainer Fischer, director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME, has travelled to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to explore opportunities to collaborate with Africa and to strengthen co-operation between the EU and Africa on scientific and technological R&D.

Fraunhofer IME has led or contributed to a number of research schemes engaging with Africa, including projects tackling malaria, HIV, rabies and tuberculosis. Most recently, Fraunhofer IME initiated a public private public partnership with multinational pharmaceutical company Sanofi to identify new small molecule drugs against infectious diseases.

To expand Fraunhofer IME’s existing engagements with Africa, Fischer met with representatives of the African Union Commission (AUC), the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.

Over the course of the meetings, the delegates discussed Fraunhofer IME’s capabilities in the areas of sustainable biomaterials, sustainable energy and industry, innovative agriculture, vaccines against diseases of poverty, and innovative approaches for the discovery of bioactive small molecules using endogenous bioresources.

Fraunhofer IME’s endeavours in Africa will most likely take place within the framework of the Pan-African Programme (PAP). As part of the Instrument for Development Co-operation, the PAP will support the implementation of the Strategic Partnership between Africa and the EU and provide assistance to cross-regional and continental programmes, ensuring that the EU engages with Africa in its entirety.

Fischer reiterated: “I very much welcome the opportunity to meet with Dr Abdulhakim Elwaer, the director of human resources, Science and Technology at the AUC. Fraunhofer IME can make valuable contributions to scientific capacity-building in Africa and I look forward to defining this contribution in detail later in 2014. Specifically in the area of vaccine development, Fraunhofer IME has unique technologies which can advance the prevention of communicable diseases in Africa as well as in modern agriculture and bioprospecting.”

One of the outcomes of these meetings was the agreement to present co-operation opportunities to the European Parliament’s Committees on Development and Industry, Research and Energy in autumn 2014.