This is the final webinar in a series of sub-regional dialogues. The purpose of this Zoominar is to share results, gather stakeholder feedback and validate the results of a study on Agribusiness Incubation and Acceleration in Africa. The aim of the study has been to map, analyse and provide assessments of the best practices and critical success factors for agribusiness incubation and acceleration, while defining gaps, opportunities and discussing future prospects of establishing and operationalising agribusiness incubation/acceleration models in Africa.
The study is a joint collaboration between the African Union (AU) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and has been undertaken by the Agripreneurship Alliance. Some of the preliminary findings and highlights from the study include:
- New, but growing: Significant increases in incubators and accelerators registered in the region since 2010. Out of the 350 Incubators mapped through the study, 120 are purely agriculture focused.
- Nearly 50 percent of incubators are in just 5 countries (Ghana, Kenya, South-Africa, Nigeria, and Uganda). There is a wide spectrum of Entrepreneur Support Organizations (ESOs), established by Government sponsored organizations, UN Agencies, Banks, Universities, NGO’s, and the Private Sector
- Limited incubators engaged in agri-processing. Only 10 out of 350 Entrepreneur Support Organizations (ESOs) have any sort of pilot processing facilities.
- Potential of Ag-Tech Incubators hampered by lack of advanced software engineers. Some incubators like Wennovation in Nigeria had to start their own IT coding schools.
- Limited cross-fertilization of knowledge among incubators/accelerators. There is a potentially immense opportunity to learn from each other on the management and operating models, training, and mentorship programmes and services offered to the entrepreneurs.
The main objectives of the webinar are:
- Share the findings from the study for feedback and validation.
- Strengthen the information and evidence-base through direct consultation and dialogue with Agribusiness Incubators and stakeholders from the region.
- Opening Rachid Serraj - Delivery Manager Regional Initiative on Small Scale Family Farming – FAO Regional Office for Near East and North Africa (FAORNE), Cairo (Egypt)
- Perspective of the African Union Commission Dr. Janet Edeme Director of the Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture (AUC)
- Moderator Dalia Abulfotuh FAORNE
- Feedback from the Study and the input from the 4 sub-regional webinars Anne Roulin – President, Agripreneurship Alliance
- Agri-rowad, Egypt: J. Dorra Fiani, Amal Matter
- Hadina Rimtic, Mauritania: Zeinebou Abdeljelil, Dahaba
- INRA, Meknes, Morocco: El Houssain Bouichou
- Deloitte, Tunisia Sabà Nefzi Senior Consultant & Agripreneur
- Young agripreneurs share their experience – Freshsource Farah Emara and Ahmini Meher Khelifi
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