The Africa Technology and Innovation Partnerships (ATIP) funded by UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is a six year programme which started in 2020 with the objective of strengthening innovation ecosystems in Africa to stimulate inclusive economic growth and the scaling innovation and technology to address development challenges. Over this period, ATIP has made significant contributions to building equitable partnerships that can address some of the systemic barriers to scaling technological innovation in Africa. In its final year, a new learning partnership led by IDS has been established as a means of drawing out key lessons from the programme and contributing actionable insights for the design, development and operationalisation of future systems strengthening programmes and partnerships around science, technology and innovation in Africa and beyond.

The learning partnership builds on IDS’s substantial experience of designing and facilitating accompanied learning processes to deliver mutually agreed learning outcomes around strengthening innovation systems. Our accompanied learning approach is surfacing and documenting lessons and reflections from multiple perspectives across ATIP delivery mechanisms, partners and grantees. Synthesis efforts ensure that evidence backs up lessons and reflections. Engagement with ATIP external stakeholders will enrich the learning process by building a shared understanding of the next steps for future innovation system strengthening interventions.