AGRA mobilizes private sector for agricultural investment opportunities

The 2020 African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) will be held under the leadership of H.E. President Paul Kagame and the AGRF Partners Group from September 8 – 11, 2020 in Kigali, Rwanda.

The AGRF virtual Summit 2020 will be attended by more than 4,000 delegates and high-level dignitaries, including current and former Heads of State and Government; Agriculture and Finance Ministers; Central Bank Governors; eminent leaders of global and regional development institutions; top industry captains from the national, regional, and global private sector; mobile network operators; technology leaders and agri-preneurs; and lead representatives of farmer organizations and key non-governmental implementing partners.

AGRF 2020 comes at an unprecedented time when African major cities, especially, those that mainly rely on imported food face a looming hunger crisis following the implementation of lockdowns in several countries to contain the spread of COVID-19. It also comes at a time Africa is faced with several other challenges that include climate change, malnutrition, poverty, emergence of pests such as desert locusts and fall armyworms.

The theme for AGRF 2020, “Feed the Cities, Grow the Continent: Leveraging Urban Food Markets to Achieve Sustainable Food Systems in Africa”, is a call to action to rethink our food systems to deliver resilient, better nourished, and more prosperous outcomes for all.

Read also: Prez cuts sod for first ever waste treatment facilities in Sekondi-Takoradi

A specific side event at the AGRF will be the Agribusiness Deal Room; a transaction and match-making platform that connects investment-ready agricultural companies and projects to financiers, business development services and ecosystem partners. The primary aim of this matchmaking is to address access to capital by matching investment opportunities to investors and other financiers

As a prelude to AGRF 2020, AGRA Ghana and partners organized a virtual Private Sector Forum on the theme “Investing in the Private Sector to Feed World: A Ghana Perspective” on August 26, 2020. The Forum provided the private sector with adequate information and whipped up their interest to participate in AGRF 2020 to explore investment and networking opportunities.

Speakers at the forum were Nana Osei-Bonsu, Chief Executive Officer of the Private Enterprises Federation(PEF), Yofi Grant, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, Seth Twum-Akwaboah, Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Ghana Industries, Kwasi Nyamekye, Chief Executive Officer of Vester Oil Mills Limited, Mabel-Ann Akoto Kwudzo, Chief Executive Officer of Okata Farms and Food Processing Limited, Grace Anim-Yeboah, Business Banking Director of ABSA Ghana, Ziad Hamoui, National President of the Borderless Alliance and Takyi Sraha, Senior Agribusiness Specialist at the Ghana Incentive-Based Risk-Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (GIRSAL) Project.

Delivering the keynote address, Nana Osei-Bonsu, Chief Executive Officer of the PEF said,

Africa is not going anywhere without agriculture. The private sector has competitive opportunities to invest in. If we have to attract the private sector to go into agriculture, there must be investing in new production and processing technologies, there must be some bio technology and other things to attract them to do that”.

Forster Boateng, Regional Head West Africa, AGRA said. “Agriculture on the continent is largely driven by the private sector. If you really want agriculture to be sustainable and go to scale, you need the private sector”. “Unlocking the private sector is fundamental to meeting the food demands of Africa’s urban dwellers and to also create decent jobs for our teaming unemployed youth”, he added.

Dr. Victor Antwi, Head of Input Distribution and Agro Dealer Development Unit at AGRA said,

Africa’s agriculture transformation is key to ensure food security and the end of hunger and malnutrition on the continent. Agribusiness financing schemes must be accessible to all farmer-based organisations to enable them to make significant contributions to Africa’s agriculture and food systems sector”.