Enabel and VITO strengthen their collaboration to accelerate sustainable solutions in Africa and beyond

Enabel and VITO, two key Belgian players in international cooperation and innovation, sign a new cooperation agreement, confirming their shared vision: technology, knowledge of the local context and honest partnerships form a fertile basis for a resilient future. Their alliance is based on three strategic areas: Environment & Climate, Energy, and Sustainable Technologies & Economies.

Belgian complementarity at the service of international cooperation

This unique collaboration is based on a rare complementarity: VITO contributes internationally recognised scientific and technological expertise. Enabel mobilises its network, its in-depth knowledge of the local context and its role as facilitator with national partners.

Together, they create solid bridges between innovation and local needs. Enabel plays an essential role in connecting VITO’s experts with national realities and institutional players, so that each solution matches local needs.

“Our two organisations share a common vision of balanced partnerships: working together on the basis of equality, building relationships based on trust, and investing in sustainable and local solutions over the long term. This ambition recognises the continent’s innovation potential and the importance of a constructive and optimistic approach,” said Jean Van Wetter, CEO of Enabel.

Inge Neven, CEO of VITO, added: “Sustainable development requires more than technology alone. It requires partnerships that connect innovation with local realities. By combining our scientific expertise with Enabel’s field experience, we can more quickly translate solutions into concrete impact. That’s how we make innovation work locally and contribute to resilient and forward-looking economies.”

Concrete examples of collaboration

Over the past six years, Enabel and VITO have launched numerous joint projects, illustrating the real impact of their partnership on key themes such as climate, energy, water management and industrial transition.
 

Remote sensing and first collaboration in Benin

VITO supported a start-up in Benin that provided drone services and drone imagery to pineapple producers. By improving their data algorithms, VITO and the start-up arrived at more robust data models, enabling more efficient and accurate crop protection and management, reducing chemical use and increasing yields.
 

Mozambique: climate modelling and energy solutions

In Mozambique, teams from VITO and Enabel are working on climate modelling and energy solutions adapted to local realities. This project demonstrates the ability of both organisations to combine advanced climate expertise with field knowledge to strengthen partner countries’ resilience to climate shocks.
 

Lake Tanganyika: sustainable water management

A European project brought together experts from different organisations to protect the ecosystem of Lake Tanganyika in central Africa. Through sustainable water management and stronger environmental monitoring, pollution should be reduced and habitat degradation curbed. The project should also mitigate the effects of climate change, such as rising water levels. This initiative illustrates Enabel and VITO’s ability to mobilise mixed teams around cross-border environmental issues that are crucial for local people.
 

Sustainable urbanism in Niger

In Niger, VITO and Enabel collaborated with national government departments on urban development in Niamey to better understand and reduce the phenomenon of urban heat islands. This project provides a direct response to the growing challenges of global warming in urban areas of the Sahel.

A collaboration that will grow

With a shared vision, proven complementarity and tangible results already visible in several partner countries, Enabel and VITO join an ambitious dynamic and continue their collaboration to encourage local innovation, strengthen national capacities and promote sustainable technological solutions at the service of communities.