Platform for African – European Partnership in Agricultural Research for Development

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

European Research and Innovation Days


18 - 21 March 2024
. European Research and Innovation Days are part of the R&I Week
40-years journey through the Research and Innovation Framework Programmes. Check the programme​ here!

The European Commission’s annual flagship research and innovation event brought together policymakers, researchers, stakeholders, and the public to debate and shape the future of research and innovation in Europe and beyond through key policy debates, funding and networking opportunities, and dedicated workshops.

This fifth edition will take place during the Research and Innovation Week on 20 and 21 March 2024, both in Tour and Taxis (Brussels) and online, allowing everyone to get involved from anywhere.

Extracts of the programme

18/03 Joint opening of R&I week

  • A 40-Year Journey Things you Didn’t Know About 
  • European R&I Celebrate the Past Prepare for the Future
  • Europe: A Scientific Powerhouse
  • Tech Sovereignty Empowering European Companies to Shape the Future
  • Beyond the Horizon Preparing for the Next Framework Programme
  • Women Innovators


19/03 European innovation Council (EIC) Beneficiaries Day


EIC Business Acceleration Services: Discover EIC support beyond funding - Web streamed


This session presented the EIC Business Acceleration Service. How can the EIC Business Acceleration Services help access Corporates, Investors, Innovation Procurers, and connect with accelerators, incubators, venture builders or business partners at International Trade Fairs.

Scaling up in Europe and beyond Web streamed

The EIC and its ecosystem are putting at the disposal of EIC awardees high-quality tools to support their journey for growth. In this session, the attendees got to know firsthand on those tools and the latest trends for scaling up at European and global level. The session’s international speakers and moderator shared their large practical experience in supporting deep tech companies and their passion about driving innovation and societal impact into the business world. This session offered an opportunity to learn about best business practices and EIC activities that can shape the future of many EIC companies.

EIC portfolio management: generating impact Web streamed

Proactive portfolio management is one of the main priorities of the EIC Programme Managers. In this session, three Programme Managers detailed what proactive portfolio management means and how the Programme Managers can generate impact for the portfolio projects. They explained how support beyond grant mechanisms looks like, how they supported projects in regulatory aspects and how the collaboration of portfolio projects generates added value.


20/03 17h:50 – 18:20 The AU-EU Innovation Agenda A Forward-looking Cooperation for the Africa-Europe Partnership


A high-level panel aiming to highlight the political relevance of the cooperation on Research and Innovation between the African Union and the European Union in the broader Africa-Europe Partnership, and its potential to shape the future of this Partnership.

The session will consider, as a ‘case in point’, the joint AU-EU Innovation Agenda with the high-level participation of EU Commissioner for International Partnership, Jutta Urpilainen, AU Commissioner for Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, Prof Mohammed Belhocine, and the AU Development Agency’s CEO Nardos Bekele-Thomas. The AU-EU Innovation Agenda represents the new policy mainstay of the R&I cooperation between Africa and Europe, conceived in a very collaborative fashion over the past three years, under the aegis of the AU-EU High-Level Policy Dialogue on Science, Technology and Innovation. Happening eight months after the adoption of this Agenda, this session provides an opportunity to take stock of the progress of the implementation of the AU-EU Innovation Agenda and to present the launch of the new Dashboard of Initiatives contributing to the implementation of the AU-EU Innovation Agenda.
At the same time, on the occasion of the 40 year-anniversary of the Framework Programme, the session will also host two success stories to illustrate the current and future impact of the AU-EU Innovation Agenda.

Related link: EU-Africa cooperation in research and innovation
Director | European Commission
Commissioner | African Union
CEO | AUDA - NEPAD
Director | European Commission

20/03 17h:50 – 18:20 Evolution of Association of Third Countries to EU Research & Innovation Framework Programmes


This session will focus on the impact and benefits for the EU and for specific third countries of the association of third countries to the Framework Programmes. International openness has reached an unprecedented level in Horizon Europe. For the first time, the programme has opened the association possibility to highly competitive R&I actors located also beyond the neighbourhood of the European Union.

The panellists will portray testimonials from third countries associated for many years, across several Framework Programmes, from ‘newcomers’ to the Programme, as well as the special case of working with the UK, previously an EU Member State, now returning to the programme as an Associated Country. The panellists will be invited to reflect in their introductions on the value of their association to the Programme, main benefits involved and the impact it may have on their national R&I ecosystem, socio-economic development, and broader international cooperation relations with the EU.

President | TUBITAK
Ambassador | Embassy of New Zealand to EU and NATO
Assistant Deputy Minister | Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, Canada

21/03 11:40 – 12:10 Innovation Ecosystems for Bioeconomy and Food Systems


Europe can compete effectively with leading economies across the globe by building a true pan-European innovation ecosystem underpinned by thriving regional innovation ecosystems and capitalising on the experience, needs, vision and perceptions of an increasingly diverse range of individuals, companies, and places. Smart specialisation strategies play a central role in strengthening regional innovation ecosystems so that they are better equipped to stimulate and sustain economic growth.

This session will present to the audience the importance of innovation ecosystems in Europe with a particular focus on the “Regional Innovation Valleys for Bioeconomy and Food Systems”, one of the DG RTD initiatives supporting the deployment of NEIA, the New European Innovation Agenda published in 2022 by the European Commission.

“Regional Innovation Valleys for Bioeconomy and Food Systems” can have a significant potential to support and accelerate the deployment of the bioeconomy and food systems transformation in regions addressing the innovation divide within the EU.

In this context this session will address also how EIT Food programmes are becoming more fundamental in managing an agri-food pan European innovation ecosystem to accelerate the transition to sustainable and resilient food systems.

Deputy DIrector General | European Commission
Director of the Agroecological Centre | Agricultural University of Plovdiv
Chief Executive Officer | EIT Food

Monday, March 18, 2024

3rd African Agribusiness Leaders Dialogue (AALD3)

13 March 2024
, Accra – The 3rd African Agribusiness Leaders Dialogue (AALD3), held online and in person in Accra, has highlighted the barrier-breaking role of young African 'agripreneurs' in the agrifood sector.
Hosted by FAO Regional Office for Africa, AALD3 gathered perspectives from the private sector ahead of FAO’s 33rd Session of the Regional Conference for Africa (ARC33) to be held 18-20 April in Rabat, Morocco. ARC33 will bring together Ministers of Agriculture and other relevant portfolios from across Africa to drive agenda-setting in agrifood systems transformation in Africa, and AALD3 will help to bring the private sector perspective to those discussions. In readiness for ARC33, participants at AALD3 developed a private sector declaration that will be presented at the regional conference. It comes after African civil society organisations held a similar dialogue and developed a civil society declaration for ARC33.

Extract of the agenda:

Bridging Finance Gaps" | " Réduire les écarts de financement "

speaker headshotDzifa Amegashie
Head of Corporate & Investor Relations & Partnerships, CalBank PLC
speaker headshotVenan A. Sondo
Executive Director, Chaint Afrique
speaker headshotMaryanne Gichanga
CEO & Co-Founder, AgriTech Analytics Ltd
speaker headshotTenemba Anna Samaké
Chief Executive Officer, MBC Africa
speaker headshotKojo Akoto Boateng
Moderator, Scio Network

Bridging Finance Gaps for Developing Agribusiness

  1. Topic 1: Financing and Empowering the Agrifood Sector Through Innovation
  2. Topic 2: Sustainability and Green Innovations in Agrifood Systems. 
  3. Topic 3: Enhancing Impact Through Complementary Business and Technical Advisory Services.
The event included panel discussions with a range of business leaders, including young trail-blazing entrepreneurs in the agribusiness sector. 
  • Affiong Williams, who runs Nigeria’s largest dried fruit company ReelFruit, said a key to her early success was partnering with like-minded entrepreneurs and learning from others in the region.
  • Sakina Usengimana, who runs Afri-Foods in Rwanda and is chairperson of the Rwanda Youth in Agri-Business Forum (RYAF), raised some of the challenges she faces in operating a cross-border business such as currency conversions, but praised Rwandan authorities for removing some trade barriers and creating a more supporting ecosystem for new agribusinesses. “Removing barriers and creating ecosystem support for young agripreneurs is vital for agribusinesses to flourish,” she said.
  • Dzifa Amegashie from CalBank said women entrepreneurs often face an unconscious bias if they operate in the agribusiness sector, and that her bank has established a ‘women’s desk’ to better support women agripreneurs.
  • Other speakers at the event were Aisata Guiro from Accelerate Africa, Maryanne Gichanga from AgriTech, Tenemba Anna Samaké from MBC Africa and the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) West Africa Steering Committee, and Venan Sondo from Chaint Afrique.

The 33rd FAO Regional Conference for Africa 


The 33rd FAO Regional Conference for Africa will put a spotlight on the FAO Strategic Framework 2022-2031 which encapsulates FAO’s work into the four betters: better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind. The conference theme is Resilient agrifood systems and inclusive rural transformation.

Find out more about the 33rd Regional Conference for Africa

Regional Multi-actor Research Network (RMRN) Consortium on Agroecology


The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) and the The Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) alongside the Agroecology Consortium, EC-Joint Research Centre (EC-JRC) and the EC Directorate General’s Department for International Partnerships (DG INTPA) have launched the Regional Multi-actor Research Network (RMRN) Consortium on Agroecology to support the Regional Centres of Excellence (RCoEs) related to Green Transition, as part of the FARA and RUFORUM component on agroecology.

AGRICONSULTING EUROPE S.A will assure the Technical support to INTPA for the coordination of the “Scientific and technological support to the Regional centres of Excellence related to Green Transition" (INTPA/2023/EA-RP/0016
  • Number of tenders received: 6
  • It will provide technical assistance to improve cross-sectoral and cross-regional coordination and strategic steering of the RCoEs in Sub-Saharan Africa. 
  • In particular: a programme coordination mechanism; exchange and dissemination of knowledge and information; creation and consolidation of inter-sectoral networking opportunities and of linkages with other STI –green transition initiatives
  • see also here

The RMRN Project is funded by the European Union (EU) as part of its Regional Multi-year Indicative Programme (MIP) for Africa (2021-2027) (# 75 pages)
  • The MIP will support strengthening the consortia of Africa based institutions to lead interventions in Africa in several domains including multi-stakeholder partnerships to bring agroecological innovations to scale, using co-learning, co-creation, and multi-stakeholder approach. 
Page 29: Sustainable Agri-food systems. Result 3.1: Agricultural research-action lead to innovation, supporting the agro-ecological transition for climate resilient and sustainable agri-food systems; monitoring and learning is shared. The EU will support testing, scaling and sharing innovation in support to the agro-ecological transition and to sustainable aquatic systems, towards heathier diets by working with key regional networks and centres of excellence such as FARA and global networks based in Africa (CGIAR centres) including CORAF, ASARECA, CCARDESA, to name only a few). Partnerships will be fostered with international and European research and innovation organisations, farmers’ organisations as well as associations in the fisheries and aquaculture sectors and private sector operators in agriculture, fisheries and food value chains. The topics covered would include pests and diseases, pesticides risk reduction, the contribution of forests and fisheries to food security and nutrition, resilient crop varieties, orphan crops (linked to the dedicated consortium), research and monitoring on land use / biodiversity, research, knowledge and data in support of Africa’s Great Green Wall. Building on ongoing initiatives such as the EU-Africa Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA-Partnership), there is a strong potential for Team Europe Initiatives.  
Page 64Sustainable Agri-food systems. Results 3.1 to 3.5
The proposed actions will promote partnership with relevant institutions such as Farmer organizations under the Pan African Farmers Organization (PAFO), extension institutions under the African Forum for Agricultural Advisory services (AFAAS), NGOs, CSOs, the private sector, and financial institutions.
  • Regional Multi-actor Research Network (RMRN) on agroecology in West and Central Africa (WCA).
  • Regional Multi-actor Research Network (RMRN) Consortium on Agroecology in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Region
During the launch the RMRN project implementing partners and participants were granted first hand experiences and interactions with agro-ecological value chains at NARO Uganda as well as exposure to wide ranges of coffee and cocoa products during the agro-ecology familiarization field visit at The National Coffee Research Institute NaCORI.

Background

The aim of the RMRN is to build excellence in research and education based on innovative approaches by mobilising and engaging with a diversity of stakeholders ranging from universities, agricultural research institutions, multi-disciplinary teams of researchers, multi-sectoral private-sector actors, farmer’s organisations and the civil society. The ultimate goal is to develop sustainably productive and resilient agri-food systems, able to address current aspirations and emerging challenges (food security, climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation, water scarcity).

The RMRN overall objective is to contribute to a sustainable agri-food system transition based on agroecological principles. The transition towards agroecological agri-food systems is an effective pathway supported by a broad range of multi-disciplinary and multi-sectoral actors such as researchers, policy makers, civil society, traders, and consumers. It requires new knowledge, competences, and policies to address complex situations, as well as challenges and co-create solutions based on agroecological principles and the integration of scientific and local knowledge.

The Specific Objectives are to:
  • Strengthen the scientific and technological capacities of RMRN Consortium to produce, collect, access, process, share data / information guided by agroecology principles and using a gender-sensitive approach.
  • Increase the RMRN’s Consortium contribution to scientific knowledge and innovation for agroecology through transformative quality multi-disciplinary research.
  • Enhance the RMRN Consortium support to agroecology practitioners, scientists, consumers, and policymakers with a gender-sensitive approach.
PRIORITY TOPICS 
  • Agrobiodiversity to support agroecological processes. Agrobiodiversity (crops, animals, mycorrhiza/bacteria) is key to support ecological processes towards healthy soils, diversified cropping and farming systems for better production and resilience, Page 7 sur 15 diversified landscapes to provide eco-systemic services.
  • Soil health to improve production and eco-system services. Soils are the basis of food and non-food production and generate eco-system services (water cycle, carbon storage, etc.). There is a need to address knowledge gaps regarding ecological processes and the development of solutions
    based on ecological processes (including bio- and organic fertilisers).
  • Integrated pest management based on agroecological processes. Pest and diseases are challenging production in Africa. Developing new solutions based on ecological processes is a priority to avoid an overwhelming dependence on chemical pesticides.
  • Water management to address climate change. In the context of increasing climate change, the need for better monitoring and innovative solutions is more and more important to deal with risks (drought and flood) and to manage water for agricultural production.
  • Adapted mechanisation for small-scale farmers to increase productivity and farmers’ incomes. Low labour productivity is a key issue to be addressed to improve production and make farmers activities more attractive and less painful especially for youth and women.
  • Digitalisation for agroecology. Digital tools are developed and more and more used in the
    agricultural sector in Africa to monitor crops and manage resources such as pasture or water, to facilitate access to markets (price information, traceability, etc.) and services (inputs, advisory services, etc.). 
  • Value chains to scale agroecology. It is a priority to scale agroecology through value chains able to valorise agricultural production based on agroecological principles to increase farmers’ incomes. 
  • Innovation service supports. Farmers need support to develop and improve agroecological farming systems in a changing context. However, advisory services and other innovation support services (incubators, innovation platforms, etc.) are to be adapted or strengthened to provide relevant and effective services with a holistic farm approach, based on the principles of agroecology and aimed at strengthening capacities and valorising local knowledge.
  • Institutions and policies as drivers for agroecological transitions. The food system transition depends on the institutional and policy landscape. Global, continental, and national policies drive the food systems transition and may shape an enabling environment to scale agroecology. 
At the end of the three years of the project, technical capacities and skill of researchers and scientists would have been built to carry out scientific studies in agroecology; improved infrastructural access by the RMRNs to carry out quality research and studies in Agroecology; available and accessible quality agroecology knowledge products and information; platform for knowledge exchange and information sharing/exchange would have been established; improved research-policy linkage; strengthened collaboration between the RMRNs and the Pan-African Network for economic Analysis of Policies (PANAP), and increased Advocacy for agroecology principles and practices

Friday, March 15, 2024

Timbuctoo : Linking agricultural innovation to start-up accelerators

Timbuctoo – UNDP’s bold, pan-African innovative and far-reaching initiative to spark a start-up revolution in Africa, is entering its second phase.

This programme was initiated by UNDP Africa in 2021. Its primary aim is to get a lot of private and public sector partners to help set up eight Timbuktoo Hubs in places that are known to have strong startup ecosystems, such as Accra, Nairobi, Cape Town, Lagos, Dakar, Kigali, Casablanca, and Cairo. 

Each Hub will be run privately and will focus on a single industry vertical, such as Fintech, Agritech, Healthtech, Greentech, Creatives, Tradetech and Logistics, Smart Cities and Mobility, or Tourismtech

This programme is built around a Parent Fund of catalytic grant capital, which, along with catalytic partners who care about making an impact, would pay for a network of Hubs and a Headquarters
  • Rwanda invests US$3 million to start the timbuktoo Africa Innovation Fund which will be hosted in Kigali.
  • Currently, Africa’s share of global startup value stands at just 0.2 percent, compared to 2 percent of global trade value. The vast majority, 89 percent, of venture capital coming into Africa is foreign capital and 83 percent is concentrated in four countries: Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, and Egypt. Over 60 percent of capital flowing to one sector, fintech.
  • The Parent Fund will give guarantees or first-loss capital in the form of a small share to each of the commercially focused Hub Venture Funds. timbuktoo’s ambition is to mobilize and invest US$ 1 billion of catalytic and commercial capital to transform 100 million livelihoods and create 10 million dignified new jobs.
  • What makes timbuktoo unique is its design, which blends commercial and catalytic capital to de-risk private investment, with a pan-African approach to supporting startups, while also focusing on the whole ecosystem, engaging and deepening the linkages between government policy, universities, corporates, development partners, catalytic partners, and commercial investors.

Accelerators and innovation labs:

Promoted by the UNDP, timbuktoo aims to address critical gaps and work with African governments,
investors, corporates, and universities, to support the African startup ecosystem.
  • ExampleLesotho innovation lab.
    The Lesotho Accelerator Lab posted a pesticide discovery by a maize farmer. On his innovation, the farmer uses a powdered pesticide made from crushed herd of elegant grasshoppers which fed and destroyed crops on his fields. Thus far, engagements on the solution were positive, however, more insights are required to shape the experiment design. The findings from the various bioassay analyses conducted found that elegant grasshoppers have chemical compounds, which gives them pesticidal-like characteristics.  Some notable issues still requiring further intelligence include sustainability of the solution, social ethics and acceptance in Lesotho. If the Lesotho Accelerator Lab can obtain a commercial solution based on this innovation, there will be more value addition to the Lesotho agricultural sector outcomes on possible organic production practices.

University Innovation Pods (UNIPODS) across 13 African countries

The first phase  (2022-2024) of timbuktoo of this 10 year programme, entailed designing the model, establishing University Innovation Pods (UNIPODS) across 13 African countries.
 
Major bottlenecks stifling the emergence of new enterprises from the innovation ecosystem are:
  1. Limited linkages between academia and industry due to fragmentation of various players and resources in the technology and product development value chain.
  2. Inadequate specialized facilities and human capital to support technology development, product development and commercialization in various innovation clusters.
  3. Absence of necessary regulatory policies to support growth of clusters of technology development within the ecosystem.
  4. Inadequate private sector participation in enhancement of the innovation ecosystem.
  5. Limited capacity for policy implementation in the national innovation ecosystem.
  6. Inequality in distribution of innovation and research opportunities – most being urban based.
Through timbuktoo, UNIPODS provide young innovators with a Maker’s Space, Design Space and Collaboration Space to create a multidisciplinary approach to innovation, as well as a Technology Transfer Office to facilitate the transition of research and prototypes to market and allow for enterprises to be built from these innovations. UNDP also supports National ICT Hubs as a space for Uganda’s youth innovators, entrepreneurs and start-ups to ideate, collaborate, create, commercialize and scale up their innovative ideas that have the potential of accelerating the digital transformation journey.

A first generation of UniPods (2022-2023) were set up in:

  • UniPod South Sudan: Worth $1.2million, the UNIPOD facility is furnished with equipment for; woodwork lab, Agri/Food Tech Lab, Textiles/Fabrics, Electrical & Electronics Lab, Audio Visual & Augmented Reality/Visual Reality (AR/VR) Lab, and other spaces.
  • UniPod Liberia: 28/07/2023. The US$600,000 (six hundred thousand) UniPod Project funded by UNDP, will be hosted at the River View Complex, Fendall, University of Liberia. In addition, an Orange Digital Center in Congo Town in Monrovia will feed into the UniPod at the University of Liberia in partnership with Icampus. The center will contain makerspace (electronic, textiles and 3D printing, digital media production etc), computers and accessories with workstation (engineering, environment, agriculture, business).
  • UniPod MaliLe Centre d’Innovation Technologique Timbuktoo (CITT). In Mali, the choice fell on the Abderhamane Baba Touré National School of Engineers (ENI-ABT) to host the center. ENI-ABT is a public university establishment with the technical prerequisites necessary for rapid adoption of the technological innovation center model. The UniPOD is made up of thematic prototyping laboratories (textiles, energy, foodtech, robotics, etc.), laboratories or design spaces, offices and collaborative work spaces,. The Accelerator Lab which is the UNDP innovation unit in Mali, will support the Pod in networking and technical support in the programming and organization of events. It commissioned in July 2022 a mapping study of the actors and solutions of the ecosystem.
  • UniPod Nigeria: The goal of UniPOD is for more than 1,000 startups to grow to a significant size and have a positive effect on more than 100 million people's lives and the environment, generating a ten-fold return of over ten billion dollars in wealth and value creation for Africa's economies. Startups, investors, government partners, innovation and accelerators hubs all participated in substantive conversations about timbuktoo and the Nigerian startup ecosystem during the timXLagos event (17/08/2022) which was hosted in collaboration with Ventures Park and Impact hub Lagos.
  • Mauritania UniPod: UNDP Accelerator Lab Mauritania brought together diverse, stimulated minds, to discover new ways of dealing with Informality in the agricultural sector, Access to Healthcare and Waste Management in a collective intelligence process. 
    • The mapping process led  to discover a local innovator (RiMCompost) working on transforming waste from palm trees to compost. This innovator uses locally available materials to increase soil fertility, knowing that only 5% of Mauritania’s total land surface is arable. Agronomists, governments officials, agricultural specialists, gardeners, and farmers were brought together to discuss and exchange ideas on composting in Mauritania. At the end of the discussion, it was suggested to first test the compost in a chemical laboratory to see the different nutritional components and conduct an experimentation – one farm with this compost and another farm with imported compost–. This allow to make a valuable comparison to see what exactly works. If the experiment is successful, the product will be certified through the Ministry of Trade, Industry, Handicrafts and Tourism and a scaling- up plan will be developed. 
    • During the collective intelligence sessions, Accelerator Lab-Mauritania brought together, small scale producers, developers, wholesale buyers, experts, and government officials to discuss collectively the possibility of developing an innovative digital platform, that will integrate and bundle the products of small-scale producers into large quantity for market. This solution will address the challenges faced by small crops and livestock entrepreneurs in the areas of farm input supply, financing, market access, and decision support tools.
  • Benin UniPod. Pôle d'Innovation et de Technologie à l'Université d'Abomey. For its implementation in Benin, UNDP has mobilized funding of approximately 3 million USD for a period of three years. At least 50 innovative companies are to be created and managed by 2027, based on revolutionary products prototyped and produced within the Abomey Calavi Innovation and Technology Pole. - See: Opérationnalisation de l’initiative Timbuktoo à l’Université d’Abomey
  • Guinee UniPodPôle d’Innovation et de Technologie au sein l'Institut Supérieur de Technologie (IST) de Mamou. For the first year, there will be 15 incubators in the field of food technology, financial technology and electronics, industrial mechanics and creative and visual arts.
  • Togo UniPod Pôle d’Innovation et de Technologie


A second generation of UniPods (2024) are currently set up in:


Zambia UniPod

UNDP launched the Mukuba UniPod, a University Innovation Pod at Copperbelt University in Kitwe, Zambia. This transformative initiative marks a significant milestone in harnessing the potential of Zambia's youth, providing a dedicated space for students, entrepreneurs, and innovators to collaborate and transform ideas to minimum viable products that can drive sustainable development. 
  • Named ‘Mukuba’ which means mineral rich ore in Bemba, one of Zambia’s local languages, the Mukuba UniPod is strategically situated within Copperbelt University, at the epicenter of Zambia's academic and entrepreneurial ecosystem. 
  • This strategic location not only fosters synergies between academia and industry but also
    positions the UniPod to capitalize on Zambia's burgeoning mining sector — which is increasingly becoming key in climate action as the demand for rare-earth minerals grows.
  • One of the technologies housed in the Mukuba UniPod is an Electric Vehicle (EV) Training Kit which provides innovators like Mwanza a great opportunity to learn the technology behind the design of efficient EV batteries and powertrains. (In 2011, a student team designed an electric car and scaled up to become a major company named Kiira Motors).
  • renewable energy-saving stove, the Slag stove, aims to reduce household energy costs while promoting sustainability in local communities.
  • The UniPod also provides assistance in commercializing their concept, courtesy of the Technology Transfer Office situated within the UniPod.

Malawi UniPod


06/03/2024. UNDP Malawi has partnered with the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (MUBAS), providing both technical expertise and financial support to establish a University Innovation Pod (UniPod) in Malawi
  • The timbuktoo UniPod, stands as a distinctive venture situated at Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences. 
  • The UniPod encompasses various key spaces, including a collaborative ideation space, Design Lab and a Makerspace featuring five specialized labs: electronics fabrication, mechanical fabrication, Computer Numerical Control Fabrication, wood workshop, digital creative arts lab
  • Furthermore, the UniPod encompasses a business nursery and a dedicated technology transfer office, further enriching its offerings.
  • Its primary objective is to provide essential support to youthful innovators by providing them with cutting-edge infrastructure that caters to innovation prototyping, experimentation, and small-scale manufacturing. 
  • The UniPod aims to foster the creation of prototypes that hold significant potential for transforming into commercially viable products hence provides an alternative for export substitution. 
  • Watch the recording of the opening.


Uganda UniPod




In 2022, the UNDP Uganda Accelerator Lab team embarked on an assessment of Uganda's Startup Ecosystem in Uganda, helping inform design of the National Startup Strategy Roadmap. Cognizant of contributions of the Startup community to Uganda’s economic growth, especially through emerging fintech, food-tech, software, and data startups, the sector is still ranked low as indicated by Startup Blink 2022 rankings.


Launch of the initiative at the World Economic Forum in Davos



  • HE Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda

    “We cannot accept that another generation of African young people do not have the tools to reach their full potential. With timbuktoo’s billion-dollar target, we can create more opportunities for Africa’s youth to put their talent and creativity to good use.”

  • HE William Ruto, President of Kenya 
  • HE Nana Akuffo-Addo, President of Ghana

    “For many African countries, our foremost challenge now is to ensure we put in place the right structures to enable young Africans to create innovative and compelling businesses that can contribute significantly to job creation and sustainable economic growth”

  • HE Bola Ahmed Tinubu, President of Nigeria
  • Mr Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator 

    “timbuktoo is a new model of development. We are gathering key actors to push on all fronts at the same time. From startup-friendly legislation, global-class startup building, and de-risking capital to increase investment, to the UniPods – University Innovation Pods - across Africa, we aim to fill critical gaps and support the startup ecosystem. This will enable innovations to grow and benefit people in Africa and elsewhere on the planet”

  • Ms Ahunna Eziakonwa, UNDP Africa Director 

    “A knowledge-driven African economy can transform the continent, far beyond even the wealth of the resources that lie beneath its ground and on its land. It is a true revolution. timbuktoo will turn ideas and nascent innovations into meaningful scaling and disruptive pan-African enterprises that attract global and local investment, generating wealth and wellbeing for millions of people in Africa and beyond, focusing on innovative solutions for people and planet”.

  • Dr Eleni Gabre-Madhin, UNDP Africa Chief Innovation Officer 
  • Mr Mahktar Diop, CEO, International Finance Corporation 
  • Mr James Manyika, SVP, Google 
  • Ms Courtney Powell, COO, 500 Global 
  • Mr Samaila Zubeiru, CEO, Africa Finance Corporation 
  • Ms Temie Giwa-Tobosun, CEO, LifeBank




Now the initiative goes into high drive in three key areas:

  • crowding in investments to the Fund; 
  • building the 8 thematic hubs across the continent that will provide ecosystem support for young innovators working in the following sectors 
  • and expanding UNIPODs to new locations in Africa.
  1. Agritech; Ghana
  2. HealthTech; Rwanda
  3. GreenTech; Kenya
  4. TradeTech (and logistics); Egypt
  5. TourismTech and EdTech; Senegal
  6. FinTech: Nigeria
  7. Creatives South Africa
  8. Smart Cities (and mobility); Morocco

Resource


AgFunder (2023) Africa AgriFoodTech Investment Report 2023 # 56 p.

AgFunderNews reports on the evolution of the global food and agriculture system. By going beyond the
headlines, it analyze the people, companies and technologies aiming to improve human and planetary health. Publishing daily news, its team of award winning journalists delivers deeper insight on the growing foodtech, agtech and climate tech industries. A multimedia publication, AgFunderNews is a division of AgFunder Inc, one of the world’s most active agrifoodtech venture capital firms
  • Investment in African agrifoodtech startups reached a record-breaking $636 million in 2022, a 25% year-over-year increase which bucked the global venture capital decline. But investor sentiment changed in 2023 with just $99 million raised in the first half, down 77% compared to the first half of 2022.
  • African agrifoodtech funding is on the decline in 2023 after a record-breaking 2022, when investment reached $636 million, a 25% year-over-year increase. 
  • Funding in the first half of 2023 reached just $99 million across 51 deals, down from $429 million across 89 deals in H1 2021. 
  • Three countries – Kenya, Nigeria and Egypt – cumulatively raised $546.8 million, or 86% of total funding in 2022. Kenya was the most active country in 2022, overtaking Nigeria to close $280.4 million in investment across 38 rounds. This was boosted by a few large deals. Nigerian agrifoodtech deals were similar in number to Kenya with 35 deals amounting to $154 million. 
  • In H1 2023, Kenyan and Nigerian startups raised nearly the same amount of funding at $41 million and $45 million respectively. Kenyan agrifoodtech startups have raised the most in the past 10 years at $608 million. That’s one third of the $1.8 billion of total funding to African agrifoodtech since 2013. Midstream Technologies was the best-funded category, raising $184.8 million in 2022. However it did so over fewer deals (down 31% YoY) due to the highest average deal size across categories. 
  • Kenya’s Wasoko raised the biggest round of 2022, bringing in $125 million for its technology connecting small shops to the digital economy. Thanks to Wasoko, In-store Retail & Restaurant Tech was the best-funded downstream category in 2022, raising a total of $182 million across 25 deals, a 434% YoY increase in funding across fewer deals than 2021. 
  • Agribusiness Marketplaces & Fintech was the strongest upstream category in 2022 reaching $160 million across 31 deals, a 413% and 29% increase respectively YoY. 
  • Africa has few innovators in globally strong categories such as Farm Management Software, Sensing & IoT and Innovative Foods. The former raised just $3 million and the latter under $1 million in 2022. However, both categories closed more deals, potentially highlighting growing activity. Median growth-stage deal sizes in African agrifoodtech – $19 million – are still well below the global median.