Shell Foundation launches Africa Corporate Innovation Program to catalyse Japanese–African startup collaboration

FCDO Fostering Innovation Mobilising Finance Scale Partnerships Smallholder Farmers Transporters Ethiopia Ghana Kenya Nigeria Sub-Saharan Africa Tanzania Uganda Mobility Post-Harvest Processing

London, United Kingdom, 27 April 2026 – Shell Foundation, an independent charity that empowers underserved customers to raise their incomes while lowering emissions, in partnership with Double Feather Partners (DFP) and NEC, today announced the launch of the Africa Corporate Innovation Program (ACIP), a new initiative to unlock collaboration between Japanese corporates and African startups. With funding from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) via the Research on Infrastructure in Developing Economies (RIDE) programme, ACIP combines Shell Foundation’s catalytic funding, DFP’s programme delivery expertise and NEC’s technology and market capabilities to pilot and scale climate smart solutions that raise incomes for low‑income communities. NEC is the first corporate partner to join the programme, which is designed to welcome additional Japanese corporates over time.

ACIP is an implementation focused programme that brings together global corporate capabilities, local entrepreneurial innovation and catalytic capital to test practical, scalable solutions in African markets. Through structured proof of concept pilots, the programme will support African startups to work directly with NEC and other corporate partners to localise technologies, validate business models and demonstrate clear pathways to commercial scale.

Shell Foundation and the FCDO is providing catalytic funding to enable the programme with the aim of reducing the risks associated with early-stage collaboration and creating the conditions for follow‑on corporate and public investment. The programme will test innovations that improve market access and productivity, including farm to market logistics solutions that reduce post‑harvest losses, improve supply chain management and enhance traceability and transparency, as well as urban last‑mile transport models that link formal and informal transport systems to unlock economic and time saving opportunities. ACIP will initially focus on markets including Kenya, Ghana and South Africa, alongside Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, reflecting both priority countries and markets with strong potential for scale.

Double Feather Partners will design and implement the programme, drawing on its experience supporting corporate–startup collaboration across Africa and Japan. DFP will lead startup sourcing and selection, support the design and delivery of proof-of- concept pilots and help connect successful pilots to future investment and scale‑up opportunities.

As the first Japanese corporate partner in ACIP, NEC will work with African startups to pilot applications of its agricultural and logistics technologies, building evidence for longer term commercial partnerships and expansion across African markets. The programme is designed as an open platform, with the potential for additional corporate partners to join over time.

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Raising incomes for people on low incomes while supporting a low carbon pathway requires more than good ideas – it requires partnerships that bring together capital, technology and local entrepreneurial expertise. Through the Africa Corporate Innovation Program, Shell Foundation is using catalytic funding to reduce the risk of collaboration and, together with our partner Double Feather Partners, help global corporates like NEC work alongside African startups to test, learn and build solutions that can scale and evolve into sustainable business partnerships. Our role is to make these partnerships possible, prove what works in practice and help unlock much larger flows of capital into inclusive, climate smart markets.

Jonathan Berman

CEO of Shell Foundation

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Social challenges in Africa should no longer be viewed merely as development issues; they represent the frontier of one of the world’s fastest‑evolving innovation markets. This program serves as an implementation platform that connects the technological strengths of Japanese companies with the field‑driven innovation capabilities of African startups.

Kohei Muto

Representative Director & CEO, Double Feather Partners

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Building on NEC’s strong commitment to open innovation, we are excited to work with African startups, with the support of Shell Foundation, to implement practical proofofconcept projects. We look forward to cocreating solutions that contribute to sustainable agriculture, food security, and lasting social impact in Africa.

Naohisa Matsuda

Senior Director, NEC

The Africa Corporate Innovation Program will run initial pilots through 2026, with learning and evidence used to inform future scale up and additional investment from corporate and public partners.

About Shell Foundation

For 25 years, Shell Foundation an independent charity registered in England and Wales, has empowered underserved customers to raise their incomes while lowering emissions. The Foundation supports early-stage innovations; helps the best of them to reach millions of people; and de-risks capital to prove those models are commercial at scale. Across Asia and Africa, the Foundation enables resilient prosperity among three core groups of people: smallholder farmers, transporters, and micro-entrepreneurs.

About the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is the UK government department responsible for diplomacy, international development and consular services, working to promote British interests and tackle global challenges worldwide.

About Research on Infrastructure in Developing Economies (RIDE)

The RIDE Programme accelerates applied research and innovation responding to the prioritised needs of LMICs, while helping mobilise private finance to overcome chronic underinvestment. The FCDO though UK International Development is the primary funder and is complemented by co-financing from Shell Foundation the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC). It is comprised of 3 pillars: Research, managed by the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), the World Resources Institute (WRI), and the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL): generates policy-relevant, demand-driven evidence on transport systems and the mobilisation of private finance, Partnerships, also managed by GIZ, WRI, and TRL: identifies research demand and facilitates uptake into practise through leveraging expert networks and establishing Communities of Practice, Transport Innovation Hub, managed by Shell Foundation: provides a platform to test, refine, and scale early-stage transport solutions that address Emerging Markets’ needs.

About Double Feather Partners

Founded in 2018, Double Feather Partners is a venture capital and advisory firm focused on Africa. The firm specializes in co-creation design and capital linkage, supporting Japanese corporates in launching and scaling businesses in African markets.

About NEC

The NEC Group leverages technology to create social value and promote a more sustainable world where everyone has the chance to reach their full potential. NEC Corporation was established in 1899. Today, the NEC Group’s approximately 110,000 employees utilize world-leading AI, security, and communications technologies to solve the most pressing needs of customers and society.