Innovation for impact: How the BPF is fueling RSS-Hydro’s success in Africa

In 2021, RSS-Hydro set out for Africa with a clear mission: to leverage its spatial modelling tools to support local populations increasingly affected by climate change. Discover how the Business Partnership Facility (BPF) empowers businesses to drive innovation and impact in developing countries.

Founded in 2017, RSS-Hydro is a Luxembourg-based enterprise dedicated to harnessing spatial modelling to tackle global climate risks. In Niger, they have teamed up with AGRHYMET, a leading intergovernmental institution focusing on agricultural and hydrological R&D in the Sahel.

Together, they tailored RSS-Hydro’s solutions to local needs: supported by co-funding from the Business Partnership Facility (BPF), they developed a state-of-the-art digital early warning flood system for the Niger River.

Opening markets, changing lives

This project unlocked new opportunities for RSS-Hydro across Africa, showcasing the scalability of its early warning system in countries often lacking the operational tools to prevent climate disasters. AGRHYMET’s regional influence drew in key partners like the European Space Agency for a similar project in Senegal, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Somalia, and the World Food Programme in Mozambique.

As its founder Guy Schumann highlights, “thanks to the BPF, RSS-Hydro has become a recognised player in applied research for development. This support allowed us to test our innovative spatial modelling solution, which is now making a real impact on vulnerable populations in several African countries. We even collaborated with Google to validate their flood forecasts in Africa using our advanced machine learning algorithm.”

The BPF: powering partnerships to tackle global challenges

With a co-financing of up to EUR 200,000, the BPF fosters partnerships between EU businesses and entities in developing countries, targeting innovative, high-impact, and commercially viable projects.

Since its launch, the BPF has supported 44 projects across 20 developing countries, providing concrete solutions to critical challenges such as poverty alleviation, food security, climate change, access to quality education, clean water, and decent jobs.

Apply by October 31st

Don’t miss the opportunity to change lives through your innovation and expand into new markets. Submit your project before October 31st.

More information: www.luxaidbusiness4impact.lu/bpf.

Join us on October 14th at 3:30 pm at the Luxembourg House of Startups to meet the BPF pioneers and connect with the community of changemakers! Register here.

About us

The BPF is funded by the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Defence, Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, and is implemented by LuxDev, the Luxembourg Development Cooperation Agency, in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce, Luxinnovation, and the Ministry of the Economy.