Twenty-five young African farmers have advanced to the final round of the AgriPitch competition of the African Development Bank’s AgriPitch competition, moving closer to a share of $ 120,000 in prizes for seed financing, training and other benefits .
The final round offers young entrepreneurs in the agricultural sector in Africa the opportunity to present their agribusiness proposals online to a panel of experts and investors who will select the winners.
AgriPitch organizers received more than 2,500 applications and evaluated 605 proposals from 30 countries. The finalists, from 12 African countries, submitted promising proposals that best accept the 2020 theme of “Managing Sustainable Nutrition and Gender Inclusion in Africa’s Agri-Food Systems: the Agripreneurs of Youth Grab the Decade”.
Finalists, all under the age of 35, were selected under the categories “Start Up”, “Adult Business” and “Women Empowered Business”.
“It is encouraging to see that almost 62% of all AgriPitch 2020 applicants describe themselves as women-led businesses or that women make up at least 50% of their management,” said Wambui Gichuri, acting vice president for agriculture. Human and social development.
“The news is spreading that AgriPitch is the competition where all qualified farmers can get the training and support to grow their businesses,” she added.
AgriPitch is part of the African Development Bank’s fourth African Youth Agripreneurs Forum (AYAF) – one of the continent’s most exciting platforms for young people in the agricultural scene – which launched online on 3 November and is reaching out to the AgriPitch winners. ceremony on November 17th.
The finalists are now enrolled for the AYAF / AgriPitch online training platform, according to Edson Mpyisi, coordinator of the Bank’s Enable Youth program responsible for the event.
“In this two-week boot camp, AgriPitch competitors can attend virtual sessions on product development, revenue channel identification, logistics, marketing, business management, investment readiness, financing and other issues, led by trainers and coaches,” Mpyisi said. said. “The cash prizes are perhaps the highest ever awarded at AgriPitch, and the skills offered by all the finalists are invaluable,” he added.
In collaboration with partners, including UN Women, the African Leaders for Nutrition and the Affirmative Action for Women in Africa Initiative, this year the AYAF and AgriPitch competition selected finalists from Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Nigeria, Benin, Tanzania, Cameroon , Mozambique, Guinea, Malawi, Ghana and Ivory Coast.
The finalists get automatic access to the AYAF webinar series. The general public can also register for the webinars, with speakers with expertise in the development, nutrition, gender and agricultural sectors.
The first session on 3 November discussed policies for sustainable nutrition and gender inclusion. Remaining webinars are scheduled for:
November 10: Empowerment of youth and women in agricultural value chains to address nutrition
November 17: Strategic Partnerships for Equity in Agriculture: Financing Women, Youth and Nutrition.
The AgriPitch finals and winning ceremony will be held on 16 and 17 November. In addition to receiving seed funding and mentorship prizes after the competition, AgriPitch winners will also be invited to the AYAF online DealRoom, which connects expansion-ready, Africa-led African businesses with global investors. Companies that were selected for the AgriPitch competition shortlist but did not make it to the competition also qualify to join the AYAF / AgriPitch online DealRoom.
See who made the list of AgriPitch 2020 finalists: https://bit.ly/32yy8KH
To learn more about AgriPitch, register for AYAF webinars and be part of the AgriPitch winning ceremony, log on to: https://www.afdb.org/en/african-youth-agripreneurs-forum/ayaf-2020
Contact:
Media contact: Alphonso Van Marsh, Chief Digital and Opportunity Officer, email: a.vanmarsh@afdb.org