Open call: ICC Immersion South Africa programme

ICC Immersion South Africa is a programme for entrepreneurs in the cultural and creative industries who have an innovative project and wish to develop it in the booming South African market.

The programme is organised by the teams of the cultural service of the French Embassy in South Africa, the French Institute and Business France in South Africa, in coordination with Business France and the French Institute from Paris. It offers, in a collective and individualised format, an initial period of preparation and remote immersion lasting six weeks, followed by a 10-day immersion on South African territory.

At the end of these first two stages, the programme may be continued for certain companies depending on the assessment of opportunities, by an individual and tailor-made immersion that can extend over a period of a few weeks to several months.

Programme details

• ICC Immersion South Africa offers an immersion in 2 to 3 stages, articulating collective and individual sequences.

Target audiences

• The ICC Immersion South Africa programme is aimed at French cultural companies (VSEs, SMEs, ETIs, associations, public establishments carrying out commercial activity) from all sectors of the cultural and creative industries that are developing an innovative solution and  wish to open up to the South African ICC market and by extension to English-speaking Africa.

Cost of the programme

• Thanks to the France 2030 plan, financial support will be allocated based on the turnover and size of the applicant company. It will be at least 30%, and could be up to 70% of the cost of the program per company for VSEs and SMEs.
• The average amount of the remaining cost for selected companies, for stages 1 and 2 of the programme, will be between €3 800 (about $3 950) and €4 200 excluding tax, including all expenses related to the programme including international travel costs and on-site accommodation.
• Selected companies will be informed of the exact amount of the remaining charge when they are notified of their selection.

Interested companies should apply here before 31 January 2025. Announcement of selected companies will be done on 14 March 2025, with the programme expected to begin on 28 March.

Before submitting their application, companies are invited to read the general rules of the call for applications and the specifications of the ICC Immersion programme.

View the original call here.