NEC Launches "Africa Corporate Innovation Program" to Accelerate Business through Co-creation with African Startups
NEC has initiated the "Africa Corporate Innovation Program" to address social issues such as agriculture and food security in Africa. This program, designed and implemented in collaboration with the UK-based Shell Foundation and venture capital firm Double Feather Partners, aims to strengthen partnerships with local startups and accelerate business.
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- 📰 Published: April 27, 2026 at 20:00
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NEC has launched the "Africa Corporate Innovation Program" aimed at solving social issues in the African region, including agriculture and food security, by strengthening collaboration with local startups. This program is an evolution of NEC's previous "NEC Innovation Challenge" and is jointly designed and implemented with the UK-based global foundation Shell Foundation (Note 1) and venture capital firm Double Feather Partners (Note 2, hereinafter DFP).
NEC has been working on "realizing sustainable agriculture" and "strengthening food security" in Africa by combining its advanced technological capabilities with practical knowledge gained from business development, such as providing data-driven agricultural solutions.
In addition, NEC has hosted the "NEC Innovation Challenge," a global accelerator program for startups, for the past four years, and has participated in Project NINJA (Note 4) organized by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Note 3, hereinafter JICA) from 2024 to 2025, promoting open innovation globally.
Building on these efforts, this year, in collaboration with the Shell Foundation and DFP, which specializes in co-creation design and business scale-up support in the region, the "Africa Corporate Innovation Program" began in April. This program will select startups capable of solving African challenges and demonstrate co-creation models that leverage the strengths of each participating company. Furthermore, based on these results, NEC aims to improve value delivery in the region and strengthen the startup ecosystem.
【Program Outline】
・Theme
Agritech, Logistics
・Schedule
April 2026: Africa Corporate Innovation Program starts, consultations with local startups begin
End of December 2026: Proof-of-concept ends
March 2027: Measurement of demonstration effects and impact, final reporting session
Comments from each company regarding this matter are as follows:
Mr. Masayuki Furukawa, Section Chief, Private Sector Development Group 2, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
JICA has continuously collaborated with private companies to strengthen the startup ecosystem in Africa and enhance cooperation between African and Japanese companies.
We believe this initiative, leveraging the experience and knowledge cultivated through Project NINJA, a startup ecosystem cooperation program promoted by JICA, has significant meaning and is expected to further contribute to Africa's economic development. In particular, we endorse the direction of Japanese and African private companies taking the lead in addressing African social issues and building mutually beneficial relationships.
We also hope that this initiative will encourage more Japanese companies to participate and further expand cooperation between Japanese and African startups. JICA will continue to cooperate through Project NINJA and intends to support such initiatives.
Mr. Jonathan Berman, CEO, Shell Foundation
To support Africa's development and transition to a low-carbon society, partnerships that bring together not only brilliant ideas but also capital, technology, and locally rooted entrepreneurship are indispensable. Through the Africa Corporate Innovation Program, the Shell Foundation uses catalytic funding to mitigate collaboration risks, supporting global companies like NEC to partner with African startups, validate, learn, and build scalable solutions. Our role is to enable these partnerships, conduct practical demonstrations, and promote larger capital inflows into markets that consider inclusive climate action.
Mr. Kohei Muto, Representative Director & CEO, Double Feather Partners Inc.
Social issues in Africa are no longer just targets for aid, but are at the forefront of the world's fastest-evolving innovation market. This program is an implementation-type platform that connects Japanese companies' technological capabilities with the site-specific innovative power of African startups.
DFP is responsible for designing and supporting the execution of mechanisms to connect proof-of-concept with investment and business scale-up, maximizing support for NEC's business expansion and social impact creation in Africa. In collaboration with the Shell Foundation, we also aim to build sustainable business models from the perspective of impact investing and blended finance.
NEC has been working on "realizing sustainable agriculture" and "strengthening food security" in Africa by combining its advanced technological capabilities with practical knowledge gained from business development, such as providing data-driven agricultural solutions.
In addition, NEC has hosted the "NEC Innovation Challenge," a global accelerator program for startups, for the past four years, and has participated in Project NINJA (Note 4) organized by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Note 3, hereinafter JICA) from 2024 to 2025, promoting open innovation globally.
Building on these efforts, this year, in collaboration with the Shell Foundation and DFP, which specializes in co-creation design and business scale-up support in the region, the "Africa Corporate Innovation Program" began in April. This program will select startups capable of solving African challenges and demonstrate co-creation models that leverage the strengths of each participating company. Furthermore, based on these results, NEC aims to improve value delivery in the region and strengthen the startup ecosystem.
【Program Outline】
・Theme
Agritech, Logistics
・Schedule
April 2026: Africa Corporate Innovation Program starts, consultations with local startups begin
End of December 2026: Proof-of-concept ends
March 2027: Measurement of demonstration effects and impact, final reporting session
Comments from each company regarding this matter are as follows:
Mr. Masayuki Furukawa, Section Chief, Private Sector Development Group 2, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
JICA has continuously collaborated with private companies to strengthen the startup ecosystem in Africa and enhance cooperation between African and Japanese companies.
We believe this initiative, leveraging the experience and knowledge cultivated through Project NINJA, a startup ecosystem cooperation program promoted by JICA, has significant meaning and is expected to further contribute to Africa's economic development. In particular, we endorse the direction of Japanese and African private companies taking the lead in addressing African social issues and building mutually beneficial relationships.
We also hope that this initiative will encourage more Japanese companies to participate and further expand cooperation between Japanese and African startups. JICA will continue to cooperate through Project NINJA and intends to support such initiatives.
Mr. Jonathan Berman, CEO, Shell Foundation
To support Africa's development and transition to a low-carbon society, partnerships that bring together not only brilliant ideas but also capital, technology, and locally rooted entrepreneurship are indispensable. Through the Africa Corporate Innovation Program, the Shell Foundation uses catalytic funding to mitigate collaboration risks, supporting global companies like NEC to partner with African startups, validate, learn, and build scalable solutions. Our role is to enable these partnerships, conduct practical demonstrations, and promote larger capital inflows into markets that consider inclusive climate action.
Mr. Kohei Muto, Representative Director & CEO, Double Feather Partners Inc.
Social issues in Africa are no longer just targets for aid, but are at the forefront of the world's fastest-evolving innovation market. This program is an implementation-type platform that connects Japanese companies' technological capabilities with the site-specific innovative power of African startups.
DFP is responsible for designing and supporting the execution of mechanisms to connect proof-of-concept with investment and business scale-up, maximizing support for NEC's business expansion and social impact creation in Africa. In collaboration with the Shell Foundation, we also aim to build sustainable business models from the perspective of impact investing and blended finance.