The Home Grown Solutions (HGS) Accelerator is a program that was originally created to accelerate the growth of African healthcare companies. It was conceptualized in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and in recognition of both the potential of local private sector solutions to strengthen the continent’s health systems as well as the lack of more mature stage and sector-specific support mechanisms for healthcare players. The program is an initiative of the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) and financially supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Since the East-Africa focused pilot in 2021 and Pan-African expansion in 2022 onwards, we have supported a total of 46 healthcare ventures across 36 African countries, assisted by a Steering Committee and advisory panel consisting of leading experts and investors in relevant topics. Together, these ventures have raised $82 million in additional capital, achieved $24M in added annualized manufacturing value, served 48 million patients across the continent and employed 6K+ total staff across Africa.
Recognizing the growing need for climate action in Africa driven by escalating climate risks, the accelerator is expanding its mandate for the first time in 2026 to also support climate ventures, especially those who are passionate about expanding their business across borders and contributing to the socio-economic development of Africa. We are looking for diverse companies across Africa operating in the climate space across 4 subsectors:
- Energy & Power – Ventures focused on increasing access and use of clean and affordable energy across Africa including: a) Decentralized energy systems such as off-grid solar, mini-grids, battery storage and green hydrogen; b) Innovative access and use models such as pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) clean energy solutions and waste-based clean cooking technologies
- Mobility & Transport – Ventures providing sustainable mobility and transport solutions across Africa including: a) Low-carbon vehicles and electrification solutions e.g., e-mobility, two-wheelers and fleet electric vehicles; b) Efficient logistics and transport services including last-mile delivery, low-carbon logistics and green port solutions
- Waste & Circular Economy – Ventures that develop solutions that reduce waste and promote circular economy principles across Africa including: a) Waste reduction through resource efficiency and packaging optimization, recycling and re-use; b) Repurposing solutions including e-waste and marine plastics recycling and responsible disposal of hazardous waste
- Nature Based Solutions – Ventures developing solutions that protect, restore and sustainably manage Africa’s natural ecosystems including: a) Habitat protection and preservation; b) Anti-poaching and sustainable tourism initiatives; c) Restoration and rehabilitation efforts e.g., wetland restoration, coral gardening, forest ecosystem rehabilitation and nature-based carbon removal solutions
We will work in collaboration with your team to design and deliver a customized, four-month acceleration programme, to support your company’s specific growth needs across three key areas: technical and contextual advisory, investment readiness and matching to strategic partners. Support will be tailored to your sector and context.
This form is intended specifically for early, growth & mature stage African climate-focused companies working to strengthen Africa’s climate resilience.
In order to qualify, businesses must:
1. Be described as a Home Grown Solution
2. Strengthen Africa’s climate resilience across the climate subsectors described above
3. Be a for-profit and qualified company at the early, growth or mature stage with proven products or services
- Early stage: You are still proving product-market fit and/or viability of your core offering
- Growth stage: You have identified a strong product-market fit in your core offering / have proven the core concept of your business, and are in the process of scaling and growing your business
- Mature stage: You have successfully proven that your core offering is viable at scale, ideally across multiple markets
You will find more information about the accelerator and eligibility criteria here:
This application needs to be filled in one-go. Therefore, if you want to prepare the answers in advance and discuss with your team, kindly access the full set of questions here:
Before proceeding with the application process, please have prepared PDF’s (max 5MB) that describe the qualifications of your company founders and leadership team as well as any pitch deck or company description document you would like to share.
The deadline to submit your application is May, 19th 2026.
Questions? Please contact: HGSAHealthSol@auda-nepad.org
