Third African Youth Agripreneur Forum to feature AgriPitch contest

The third African Youth Agripreneur Forum (AYAF) Conference and AgriPitch Competition will be held in Cape town, South Africa from June 24 – 28, 2019 under the theme: “Climate Smart Agriculture: Business and Employment Opportunities for Africa’s Youth”.

The AYAF is an annual event of the African Development Bank’s Enable Youth Program and is expected to attract over 200 participants from across the continent including youth agripreneurs, agribusiness companies, investors, environmentalists, academia, development partners and government agencies.

AYAF includes a three-day boot camp (June 24 – 26, 2019) where some pre-selected agripreneurs receive training on business models, marketing, the innovation development process as well as business financing, by coaches and mentors. The agripreneurs finally pitch their ideas to a panel of judges and impact investors. The event also includes a two-day Conference (June 27 – 28, 2019) which provides a platform for the youth agripreneurs and key stakeholders to discuss topical/thematic issues affecting youth employment with experts, business leaders, investors and policy makers. The event will also include a number of Master Classes to equip the agripreneurs with concrete agribusiness skills.

Under the Feed Africa Strategy and the Jobs for Youth in Africa Strategy, the African Development Bank is implementing the Enable Youth Program to demonstrate that with greater access to agribusiness enterprise youth can become the driving force of agricultural transformation in Africa. To date, the African Development Bank has committed over US $350 million to Enable Youth investments on the continent. With the right skills, technologies and improved access to finance, young African men and women can become the proud owners of profitable agribusiness enterprises.

AYAF aims to among other things:

1. Enhance the investment readiness of agripreneurs through an intensive bootcamp training and ensure they are pitch ready for investors;
2. Showcase to investors, capital expansion ready youth-led businesses focused on climate smart agriculture (CSA), with the aim of raising the profile of these businesses and facilitating their access to financing (debt, equity, and/or grant);
3. Promote the business case for responsible agriculture and entrepreneurship within the framework of climate change mitigation and adaptation to a growing force of young entrepreneurs ;
4. Create youth business linkages through networking and collaboration with potential investors, off-takers and development organizations;
5. Sustain the growing network of agripreneurs as a platform for interaction, mentorship, training and business development;
6. Promote best practice ideas of agripreneurs on climate smart businesses in order to scale-up across the continent (transfer of technology and skills);
7. Showcase the ingenuity of young African agripreneurs to compete globally, while motivating other African youth to aspire and seize opportunities in agribusiness.

Targeted Participants

• Young African graduates and/or entrepreneurs in the agriculture sector;
• Young agripreneurs already running agribusinesses with experiences to share;
• Private sector leaders providing services in the agriculture sector (insurance, environment and climate, logistics, financial institutions, ICTs, etc.);
• Development partners promoting CSA and youth employment in the agriculture sector;
• Investors seeking business opportunities;
• Decision makers and other policy actors from government, civil society and international organizations.

More details about AYAF 2018 can be obtained here.