Funding Agencies

The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) is an international organisation consisting of 22 Member States, including Mauritius as one of its members since 1997.

The objectivs of IORA are:

to foster sustainable growth and balanced in the region and in the member States;
to concentrate on those areas of economic cooperation which provide maximum development opportunities, common interests and mutual benefits; and
to foster liberalization, to remove impediments and lower barriers to a free and better flow of goods, services, investment and technology.

IORA is also a platform for researchers, scholars and practitioners to share research findings, including the priority research areas it is currently working on:

Maritime Safety and Security;
Trade and Investment Facilitation;
Fisheries Management;
Disaster and Risk Management;
Academic, Science and Technology Cooperation;
Tourism and Cultural Exchanges;
Women’s Economic Empowerment;
The Blue Economy.

More information is available on https://www.iora.int

The SKA is a major radio telescope project being implemented in the region and is conducted by a consortium of nine African countries, namely Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zambia. The SKA project is an international effort to build the world’s largest radio telescope, with a square kilometre (one million square metres) of collecting area.

More information is available on https://www.skatelescope.org/

The Southern Africa Network for Biosciences (SANBio) provides a shared biosciences research, development and innovation platform to address some of Southern Africa’s essential health and nutrition challenges. SANBio was established in 2005 as one of five regional collaboration networks under the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, especially the African Biosciences Initiative (NEPAD-ABI), covering 12 SADC countries: Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

SANBio operates on a regional multi-country approach: All project efforts involve at least three countries since many development problems transcend borders. The SANBio Secretariat, which manages the day-to-day activities of the Network, is hosted at the SANBio Hub in Pretoria, South Africa.

More information is available on this link: https://www.nepadsanbio.org/

Other Research Funding Agencies are as follows:

Interreg Ocean Indien
Commonwealth Climate Finance Access
Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) – Funds regional projects in sustainability, climate change, and blue economy through programs like INTERREG and ENVERT.
Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) – Promotes collaborative research in marine resources, disaster management, and renewable energy across member states.
African Union (AU) – African Academy of Sciences (AAS) – Offers grants for pan-African research, including projects in Indian Ocean Island states.
European Union (EU) – Horizon Europe – Provides funding for international partnerships, including Indian Ocean Island researchers collaborating with EU institutions.
Agence Française de Développement (AFD) – Funds climate resilience, biodiversity, and infrastructure projects in French-speaking islands (e.g., Comoros, Réunion).
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) – Indian Ocean Countries – Supports sustainable development projects, including climate adaptation and governance.

Environmental and Climate-Focused Funding

Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA) – Funds marine and coastal research in the Western Indian Ocean region.
Global Environment Facility (GEF) – Supports biodiversity conservation and climate resilience projects in small island states.
World Bank – Small Island States Resilience Initiative – Funds infrastructure, disaster risk management, and sustainable development.

Environmental and Climate-Focused Funding​

Environmental and Climate-Focused Funding