Erasmus+ Virtual Exchanges in Sub-Saharan Africa

The Erasmus+ Virtual Exchanges in Sub-Saharan Africa grant opportunity aims to promote intercultural dialogue and develop soft skills among young people through online activities. This initiative encourages virtual exchanges that connect students, educators, and youth from EU Member States and associated countries with their counterparts in Sub-Saharan Africa. The program is designed to complement physical mobility, allowing broader access to international educational experiences via digital platforms.

Key details of the opportunity include the following:

- **Title**: Erasmus+ Virtual Exchanges in Sub-Saharan Africa
- **Topic ID**: ERASMUS-EDU-2026-VIRT-EXCH-SSA
- **Opening Date**: December 4, 2025
- **Deadline**: March 26, 2026, at 17:00 Brussels time
- **Total Budget for SSA**: €5,174,285
- **Funding Type**: Lump Sum Grant under ERASMUS Lump Sum Grants
- **Consortium Requirement**: Projects must include at least four independent entities from different eligible countries, including at least two higher education institutions or youth organizations from EU Member States and two from Sub-Saharan African countries not associated with the Erasmus+ Program.

Eligible applicants are legal entities active in higher education or youth work, including youth organizations, higher education institutions, and recognized national or international organizations. The coordinating organization must be established in an EU Member State or an associated third country, while other consortium members can be from the eligible regions in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The program targets the education and youth sectors with a focus on inclusion, digital transformation, environmental sustainability, and civic engagement. It encourages virtual exchange projects that integrate these themes and contribute to objectives such as enhancing critical thinking, promoting European values, and strengthening EU-Africa cooperation.

Projects are expected to be in the development or validation stage, emphasizing the testing and scaling of virtual exchange methodologies. The total allocated budget will be distributed among successful projects based on evaluation rankings, and detailed project budgets must include structured work packages covering management, training, communication, and quality assurance.

The application process involves a single-stage submission via the EU Funding and Tenders Portal by the stated deadline. Successful proposals will be evaluated from April to September 2026, with results announced in September and grant agreements signed in December 2026. Co-funding is not explicitly required but may be considered.

In summary, this call for proposals encourages structured virtual exchanges that foster intercultural dialogue and educational cooperation between Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa, with a significant budget allocation underscoring the EU's commitment to bridging educational and geographical divides.

The ERASMUS+ Virtual Exchanges program promotes intercultural dialogue and soft skills development through online people-to-people activities. It aims to provide access to high-quality international and cross-cultural education without physical mobility. These virtual exchanges take place in small groups, moderated by trained facilitators, and can be integrated into youth projects or higher education courses. Projects should involve organizations and participants from EU Member States, third countries associated with the program, and third countries not associated with the program in eligible regions.

The objectives of the action are to encourage intercultural dialogue, promote virtual exchanges as a complement to physical mobility, enhance critical thinking and media literacy, foster digital and soft skills development, promote citizenship and common values, and strengthen the youth dimension in EU relations with third countries.

Thematic areas for virtual exchanges include Inclusion and diversity, Digital transformation, Environment and fight against climate change, and Participation in democratic life, common values, and civic engagement. Participating organizations can choose their focus topics within this framework, demonstrating expected impact related to the objectives. Gender aspects and the inclusion of socially and economically vulnerable people should be considered.

Conditions for application include adherence to proposal page limits (40 pages for Part B of the Application Form), eligibility of participating countries as described in the ERASMUS+ Programme Guide 2026, and meeting financial and operational capacity requirements. Evaluation criteria, scoring, and thresholds are detailed in the ERASMUS+ Programme Guide 2026.

The indicative timeline includes publication of the call on 27 November 2025, a deadline for submitting applications on 26 March 2026 at 17:00 (Brussels time), an evaluation period from April to September 2026, information to applicants in September 2026, and signature of the grant agreement in December 2026.

Applicants should use the standard application form (ERASMUS BB and LSII) and the detailed budget table (ERASMUS LSII). Guidance is available in the ERASMUS Programme Guide, Model Grant Agreements (MGA), and Lump Sum MGA. Additional documents include the ERASMUS+ Work Programme, ERASMUS Regulation 2021/817, EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509, Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment, EU Grants AGA, Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual, Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions, Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement, and guidance on managing lump sum grants.

Four specific topics are listed with their respective budgets for the year 2026: ERASMUS-EDU-2026-VIRT-EXCH-NE with a budget of 2,040,948 EUR, ERASMUS-EDU-2026-VIRT-EXCH-SMC with a budget of 1,646,667 EUR, ERASMUS-EDU-2026-VIRT-EXCH-SSA with a budget of 5,174,285 EUR, and ERASMUS-EDU-2026-VIRT-EXCH-WB with a budget of 1,000,000 EUR. All topics follow a single-stage submission process, with the opening date planned for 4 December 2025 and the deadline for submission on 26 March 2026.

For help related to this call, applicants can contact EACEA-EPLUS-VIRTUAL-EXCHANGES@ec.europa.eu. The deadline for addressing queries is 13 March 2026 (eob). Additional support is available through the Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ, the IT Helpdesk, and the Online Manual.

In summary, this Erasmus+ call focuses on virtual exchange projects designed to foster intercultural dialogue, develop soft skills, and promote international education using digital platforms. It encourages participation from diverse regions and emphasizes thematic areas aligned with Erasmus+ priorities. The call provides detailed guidelines for application, evaluation, and project implementation, with a total budget allocated across four specific topics.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types are organizations involved in higher education and youth, including those involved in non-formal education. This includes organizations from EU Member States, third countries associated with the Erasmus+ Programme, and third countries not associated with the Programme but located in eligible regions. Youth workers, defined as professionals or volunteers involved in non-formal learning who support young people in their personal socio-educational and professional development, are also implicitly eligible through their organizations.

Funding Type: The funding type is a grant, specifically an ERASMUS Lump Sum Grant (ERASMUS-LS).

Consortium Requirement: The opportunity requires projects to involve organizations and participants from both EU Member States and third countries associated to the Programme, and third countries not associated to the Programme in eligible regions. This suggests a consortium approach is necessary to meet the international participation requirements.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility includes EU Member States, third countries associated to the Erasmus+ Programme, and third countries not associated to the Programme but located in eligible regions. The specific eligible regions within the third countries not associated with the program are not detailed in the provided text, but are referenced.

Target Sector: The program targets the education and youth sectors, focusing on virtual exchanges to promote intercultural dialogue, soft skills development, and international experience. The thematic areas include inclusion and diversity, digital transformation, environment and fight against climate change, and participation in democratic life, common values, and civic engagement.

Mentioned Countries: The opportunity explicitly mentions EU Member States and third countries, both associated and not associated with the Erasmus+ Programme. Specific countries are not named, but the regions of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), Western Balkans (WB), South Mediterranean Countries (SMC) and Neighbourhood East (NE) are implied through the budget overview table.

Project Stage: The expected maturity of the project is at a stage where virtual exchanges can be readily integrated into youth projects or higher education courses. This suggests a development or validation stage, where the methodology and platform for virtual exchanges are already conceptualized and ready for implementation.

Funding Amount: The funding amounts vary by topic: ERASMUS-EDU-2026-VIRT-EXCH-NE has a budget of 2,040,948 EUR, ERASMUS-EDU-2026-VIRT-EXCH-SMC has a budget of 1,646,667 EUR, ERASMUS-EDU-2026-VIRT-EXCH-SSA has a budget of 5,174,285 EUR, and ERASMUS-EDU-2026-VIRT-EXCH-WB has a budget of 1,000,000 EUR. All are for the year 2026.

Application Type: The application type is an open call, with a single-stage submission process.

Nature of Support: Beneficiaries will receive money in the form of a lump sum grant.

Application Stages: The application process is a single-stage process.

Success Rates: The indicative number of grants is not specified in the provided text.

Co-funding Requirement: The text does not explicitly state whether co-funding is required.

Summary:

The Erasmus+ Virtual Exchanges call for proposals aims to promote intercultural dialogue and develop soft skills among young people through online people-to-people activities. This initiative seeks to complement physical mobility by providing accessible, high-quality international and cross-cultural education via digital platforms. The call is open to organizations in the higher education and youth sectors from EU Member States, third countries associated with the Erasmus+ Programme, and eligible regions within third countries not associated with the Programme. Projects should integrate virtual exchanges into youth projects or higher education courses, focusing on thematic areas such as inclusion and diversity, digital transformation, environmental issues, and democratic participation. The funding is provided as a lump sum grant, and the application process involves a single-stage submission. The call encourages proposals that enhance critical thinking, media literacy, digital skills, and citizenship among participants, fostering European values and strengthening the youth dimension in the EU's relations with third countries. The deadline for submitting applications is March 26, 2026. The evaluation will take place between April and September 2026, and the grant agreements are expected to be signed in December 2026. The call is managed by the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA), and detailed information can be found in the Erasmus+ Programme Guide 2026.