African Agri-Business Engine for private sector agricultural finance launched

By DOREEN NAWA, Malabo, Equatorial Guinea

THE African Development Bank and the Fund for African Private Sector Assistance (FAPA), a multi-donor trust fund financed by the Governments of Japan and Austria has launched the African Agri-Business Engine (AABE) in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.

FAPA provides grants for technical assistance activities in Africa, and is one of the components of the Enhanced Private Sector Assistance (EPSA) initiative hosted at the African Development Bank.

The African Agri-Business Engine will identify investment and finance opportunities in agriculture and agribusiness, and focus its activities in Mozambique, Zambia, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Kenya.

The project will be implemented by Grow Africa and hosted in the African Union Development Agency – New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD).

One of the proposed outcomes of the African Agri-Business Engine is the submission of business-ready deals with leading continental partners at the African Investment Forum in Johannesburg at the end of this year (11- 13 November 2019).

Jennifer Blanke, Vice President of Agriculture, Human, and Social Development of the African Development Bank said, “The launch of the African Agri-Business Engine is significant because private financing is critical for the agriculture sector to move up the value chain, so that Africa can start to feed itself and ultimately the world.”

The African Development Bank is building an integrated business pipeline that generates and activates investments for agribusinesses and agricultural SMEs to be financed in priority value chains on the continent.

It is critical to enable inclusive financing within the agribusiness sector and develop market access for SMEs and smallholder farmers.

Head of the Regional Integration, Infrastructure and Trade Programme of AUDA-NEPAD, Symerre Grey-Johnson said that hosting the African Agri-Business Engine in NEPAD was appropriate and that this was “a clear demonstration of the excellent cooperation between NEPAD and FAPA”.

He is also optimistic about the Bank’s second annual Africa Investment Forum in Johannesburg.

And Shinichi Isa, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Finance, Governor to the African Development Bank, Government of Japan, expressed the appreciation and approval of the Japanese government.

Mr Isa said he is convinced of the particular importance and influence of technical assistance in building capacity from his previous experiences in development finance and projects.

The specific objectives of the African Agri-Business Engine are to create market insights and business intelligence at country level for priority value chains, and develop business engine value chain platforms for a flow of bankable and innovative agricultural SME proposals.

Through these objectives, the project will identify commercial investment opportunities in strategic commodity value chains and provide a reliable pipeline of bankable projects that will quickly find investment funding.

Also in attendance at the launch were Governors and government representatives from Africa, among them Zambia’s secretary to the Treasury Fredson Yamba and foreign governments and senior Bank staff, including Vice President Finance Bajabulile Swazi Tshabalala.

Africa’s first women agripreneurs online network launched

By DOREEN NAWA

THE first female agripreneurs online network across Africa has been launched in Nairobi, Kenya.
The VALUE4HERConnect network will help bring women entrepreneurs in agriculture together in a virtual community and serve as an important business resource for members.
The network will be able to connect, network and grow their businesses through the new VALUE4HERConnect platform.
More than 400 women have signed up to Africa’s first online platform for female agripreneurs, launched today at a trade fair in Nairobi.
The network, which was launched at AWAN-Afrika’s first continental conference and VALUE4HER B2B fair, is part of a program led by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) to empower women in agriculture.
Despite accounting for 40% of the agricultural workforce worldwide, women’s participation in agribusiness is often limited to low-profit production.
“While women are key players in agriculture, they often face challenges at the business end,” said Sabdiyo Dido Bashuna, Senior Programme Coordinator, Value Chains and Agribusiness at CTA.
“With VALUE4HERConnect, they now have access to buyers, to market information and intelligence, investment and capacity building opportunities, which will ultimately help them to form strategic partnerships towards accessing global markets for increased incomes.”
The platform includes a Women2Women Community forum, allowing women to interact, trade and share information, and market information such as country profiles, trade policies and market entry requirements.
The network also provides information on financing and opportunities for training.
The VALUE4HER Women in Agribusiness event was jointly organised with the African Women Agribusiness Network (AWAN) and the Africa Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF) under the theme of “Enhancing women inclusion in agribusiness”.
Value4Her targets market access, improving knowledge, skills and networks and global advocacy to address key barriers to women’s empowerment high up in agricultural value chains.
The belief is that a critical way to make progress is to empower women to take stronger roles at the business end of the value chain. It is all about recognizing potential and giving it room to grow, and through it engage 100,000 women agri-preneurs in Africa.
During the two-day event, women agripreneurs from 21 African countries gathered for masterclasses, hackathons and pitching opportunities to showcase their businesses and try to secure regional and global business deals.
“Today, we have this opportunity to accelerate the manufacture and intra- African trade of value-added products, moving from commodity-based economies and exports to economic diversification and high-value exports,” said Beatrice Gakuba, Executive Director of AWAN. “The demand is high.”
Irene Ochem, founder and CEO of AWIEF, added: “We are pleased once again to partner with CTA and AWAN: VALUE4HERConnect will make the difference in how women grow and scale their businesses. The platform bridges the gap in information and data. We connect women to intra-African opportunities, to finance and to markets.”