Abdelmonem Fawzi
African youth can contribute significantly to innovation and entrepreneurship on the continent, if the necessary resources are mobilized to allow them to realise their full potential.
We need to address the youth skill gap in Africa and develop their entrepreneurial capacities.
The problem is, however, that there are gaps in technical, managerial and business management skills that hamper productivity and competitiveness.
The growth of entrepreneurship across Africa has been slow and uneven. Most young entrepreneurs are left behind because they lack the necessary skills, capital and mentorship required to grow their businesses.
The good news is that the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF), Heifer International and Generation Africa have announced the launch of Pitch AgriHack 2022, marking the second year these organisations have come together to provide cash grants that accelerate entrepreneurial growth and job creation in Africa’s agriculture sector.
Pitch AgriHack identifies innovative youth-led businesses with technological solutions to food security challenges, awarding the most impactful businesses with cash grants, media visibility and investor exposure.
“Pitch AgriHack is about promoting digital jobs and smart technologies that appeal to the youth,” Generation Africa Head, Dickson Naftali, said. “This competition calls on Africa’s innovative minds to empower themselves and their communities by harnessing and developing ground-breaking technologies in the agrifood sector.”
He said a bright future looms in the horizon for African youth.
Generation Africa, he said, with help from partners like Heifer International, works tirelessly to smooth out the obstacles that have traditionally prevented young people from embracing opportunities in the agriculture and food value chain.
Around $45,000 in prizes will be awarded to six winners during Pitch AgriHack 2022 in three open competition categories.
Businesses can compete as Early-stage, Mature or Growth-stage, and Woman-led ventures. Farm equipment manufacturers, agricultural drone services for precision farming, data and analytics providers, mobile apps, online crowdfunding and finance platforms, e-commerce and logistics services, and more, have all featured strongly in previous Pitch AgriHack competitions.
“At Heifer International, we believe agriculture can be a major driver of economic growth and employment across Africa,” Adesuwa Ifedi, senior vice-president for Africa Programmes at Heifer International, said. “African youth hold the key to unlocking this potential as their innovation will transform the food and farming sector, providing new jobs and increasing food security.”
She added that Heifer International is impressed with the young agritech entrepreneurs who pitched their businesses as part of last year’s competition.
“We are excited to see the new innovations 2022 will bring,” Ifedi said.
President of AGRA and Former Special Envoy to the UN Food Systems Summit, Dr. Agnes Kalibata, cited the presence of hope for the youth of Africa to throw out the legacy problems created in the food system over the last 100 years and come up with tech-enabled, nature-positive solutions that fast-track Africa’s food production capacity to create jobs and make the continent self-sufficient.
“High-profile competitions that reach millions of young people, like Pitch AgriHack, play a big role in agriculture,” Kalibata said.
The Pitch AgriHack 2022 finals will see the Top 12 applicants face off in a business pitching contest at the AGRF in September.
Finalists will participate in the AGRF Agribusiness Deal Room, where over 800 companies, 15 government delegations and 150 public and private investors will convene to generate exciting new opportunities.
A fourth invite-only category, known as the AYuTe Africa Challenge, sponsored by Heifer International, will award up to $1.5 million in grants to scalable ventures that are already generating measurable impact for Africa’s smallholder farmers.
Winners from the 2022 AYuTe Africa Challenge will also be featured at the AGRF summit.
Applications for Pitch AgriHack are open from 20 June 2022 to 29 July 2022 at https://genafrica.org/pitchagrihack.
African founders or co-founders, aged 18-40, of technology-based and digital services businesses in the agriculture sector are eligible to enter the 2022 competition.
The Top 12 applicants will be selected by an expert jury, followed by an award ceremony where three category winners and three runners-up will receive cash grants to grow their businesses.
Generation Africa is a thematic platform of the AGRF, whose mandate is to strengthen the ecosystem for youth entrepreneurs in the agri-food sector across Africa.
From its start in 2019, Generation Africa has brought together industry leaders, government institutions, NGOs, NPOs, and community platforms to collaborate on ecosystem development, curation and support of agribusinesses, research and advocacy, and the inspiration of young people to embrace opportunities in the agrifood sector.
However, a supportive environment that provides training, financial products and services for young entrepreneurs is fundamental to sustainability and more equal outcomes.
Partnerships that bring together governments, the private sector, academia, youth organisations and development actors, are pivotal to strengthening this ecosystem.
More youth can be reached along the value chain, if there are better mapping and stronger networks to support enterprises within and between countries.
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