Organising the Intra-Africa Academic Mobility Scheme

The Intra-Africa Academic Mobility Scheme is the EU's programme to encourage international learning mobility across the African continent. The programme provides support for consortia of African Higher Education Institutions and scholarship opportunities for African trainees, students and staff. It is part of the Youth Mobility for Africa flagship initiative, which aims to support learning opportunities and exchanges, ultimately promoting Africa as an attractive study destination. Through this project, the ICF Next team moved beyond a traditional event-support role to become a trusted partner, contributing to both the content and delivery of the programme.

Challenge

Beyond the logistics of a large-scale international event amid geopolitical challenges, the project contracted by the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) required the development of a coherent and engaging content programme. The content needed to reflect the strategic objectives of the initiative and address the expectations of a large and diverse international audience. The evolving scope called for close coordination, flexibility, and a clear content vision.

Solution

ICF Next partnered with teams within ICF to deliver an integrated approach combining event management and content development.

This included:

• End-to-end event organisation (venue, travel, accommodation, and logistics)
• Design and delivery of the event programme and sessions
• Production of communication materials, including multilingual brochures and video assets

Results

The event successfully brought together around 230 participants from universities and academic institutions across Africa and Europe, supporting knowledge exchange and strengthening collaboration across participants. A key success factor was the close collaboration between ICF Next and ICF teams, enabling the project to move beyond traditional event support and ensure full ownership of both content and delivery.

By combining operational excellence with strong content development, our teams strengthened the visibility and strategic positioning of the Intra-Africa Academic Mobility Scheme, reinforcing its role within the EU-Africa Global Gateway initiative.