Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria Shine at AgriPitch competition
Kenyan, Elizabeth Gikebe owner of Mhogo Foods, won $20,000 while Oluwaseun Sangoleye, a Nigerian who owns Baby Grubz was runner-up with $10,000 in the Women Empowered Businesses Category.
Nigeria’s Femi Aiki’s Foodlocker won $40,000 while Ivorian Noel N’guessan’s Lono emerged runner-up with $20,000 for the Mature Start-ups Category.
The last category titled Early Start-ups was won by Ikenna Nzewi’s Relief with a cash prize of $20,000 and David Matsiko’s Bringo Fresh won $10,000 as runner-up.
The winners were chosen from a pool of entries from 30 countries after careful evaluation of all submitted business ideas and proposals by panel of investors and experts.
AgriPitch competition, a part of the Bank’s fourth African Youth Agripreneurs Forum (AYAF) was designed to encourage the participation of youths in agricultural entrepreneurship using innovative ideas that would lead to job creation and ultimately improve their livelihood.
The winners would also be a part of mentorship programmes and get invitation to the AYAF online DealRoom that would introduce them to global investors.
According to Edson Mpyisi, Cordinator of the Bank’s Enable Youth Program, “The Bank’s Enable Youth Program aims to empower the youths at each stage of the agribusiness value chain by harnessing innovative skills, technologies and financing approaches, so that they can establish viable and profitable small and medium sized enterprises.”
The competition embodies the objective of African Development Bank to create a platform for documenting ideas and proposals with the potential to increase economic development and promote sustainable agriculture as part of the Sustainable Development Goals.
