The African Innovation Foundation (AIF) was entered in the Swiss Commercial Register on October 30, 2009. Its African Founders, entrepreneurs and private equity investors Jean Claude Bastos de Morais, José Filomeno dos Santos and Jorge Pontes, defined the purpose of the foundation to be the mobilization for innovation towards sustainable development in Africa.

AIF’s areas of activity encompass programmes & projects
in the fields of:

• Innovation & access to technologies
• Governance
• Education & culture
• Health

The foundation seeks to establish cooperation platforms for institutions, investors and scientists and promote ideas to support them. AIF also wishes to promote transparent processes and procedures within the public sector and combat illegitimate appropriation and dissipation of resources within both the private and public domains.

The Zurich-based foundation is a not-for-profit organisation. It is neutral in terms of ideology, politics and religious affiliations, and is regulated by the Swiss Federal Supervisory Board for Foundations. First and foremost, this ensures that the foundation’s funds are deployed in accordance with its stated purpose.