Winners have emerged in the African Development Bank, AfDB AgriPitch Competition 2020.
The AgriPitch competition was part of the Bank’s fourth African Youth Agripreneurs Forum (AYAF) – one of the continent’s most exciting platforms for African youth in the agriculture start-up scene – which kicked off on 3 November with weekly webinars and ended with the AgriPitch winners’ ceremony held on 17 November 2020.
The AgriPitch competition offered young entrepreneurs in Africa’s agricultural sector the opportunity to pitch their agribusiness proposals to a panel of experts and investors who selected winners in “early start-up”, “mature start-up” and “women-empowered businesses” categories.
Held virtually, AfDB AgriPitch Competition 2020 saw more than 2,500 applications and 605 proposals from 30 countries shortlisted down to 25 finalists from 12 countries. The finalists qualified for a two-week business development boot camp, and then a select top 9 AgriPitch competitors made their final pitches to an online panel of judges and investors.
Winners Of AfDB AgriPitch Competition 2020
Mature Start-ups
- Winner: Femi Aiki, Foodlocker, Nigeria ($40,000)
- Runner-Up: Noel N’guessan, Lono, Côte d’Ivoire ($20,000)
Women-empowered Businesses
- Winner: Elizabeth Gikebe, Mhogo Foods, Kenya ($20,000)
- Runner-Up: Oluwaseun Sangoleye, Baby Grubz, Nigeria ($10,000)
Early Start-ups
- Winner: Ikenna Nzewi, Releaf, Nigeria ($20,000)
- Runner-Up: David Matsiko, Bringo Fresh, Uganda ($10,000)
In addition to receiving seed funding prizes and post-competition mentoring, AgriPitch winners will be invited to the AYAF online DealRoom, which connects expansion-ready, youth-led African businesses with global investors.
The winner of the $40,000 mature business category prize, Foodlocker CEO Femi Aiki, said the seed funding provides “a lot of fuel for the road” for his business. Foodlocker supports smallholder farmers with technologies for the production of foods such as tomatoes and chicken.
“Now we can afford to buy more inputs. We can now afford to bring on board more experts in those value chains who can support smallholder farmers more remotely…That money will support the company to get results.”
