Emeka Mbachu
As the Senior Software Developer, Chukwuemeka handles the development of software processes for the Nourishing Africa platform. Using the latest practices and standards he works with the ICT and Programs team to develop features and structures on the hub. Chukwuemeka has over 7 years of experience as a web and software developer, working with digital marketing agencies, communications technology companies and the agriculture industry.
He holds a Bachelors Degree in Accountancy from American University of Nigeria, Yola and a Masters Degree in Information Systems from the University of Coventry. He is also a certified Web Foundations Associate from the Certified Internet Web Professionals.
"I'm passionate about contributing positively to solving problems using software and technology. This is at the centre of my work at Nourishing Africa.”
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Henry Nerious Dieto
Henry is Nourishing Africa’s Communications Officer, a position he has held since joining the organization in September 2021. He manages the organization’s communication channels, including social media platforms, ensuring information flows freely between the organization and its internal and external audiences.
Henry is a communications professional with over 6 years of experience working in the profit and not- for-profit sectors. Prior to joining Nourishing Africa, he worked at Maandeeq Mental Health Without Boarders, Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI), M.P Shah Hospital, and Wananchi Group East Africa.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in Communication and Public Relations from Moi University (Kenya) and a diploma in Journalism (Print Media) from the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication (KIMC), where he emerged the overall best graduating student in 2015. He is a full member of the Public Relations Society of Kenya (PRSK) and a student member of the Computer Society of Kenya (CSK).
“I am passionate about using new media to drive conversations around Africa’s agricultural sector, and enabling SMEs access the required resources to scale.”
Ify Umunna
As the Co-Founder and Co-CEO (ICT & Programs), Ify manages the creation and implementation of programs for Nourishing Africa. She also oversees the ICT, Partnerships and Governance for the organization.
Ify has international experience in gender, maternal and adolescent health and nutrition at The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Adolescent Health (WHO), Geneva; Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, London; and Girl Effect, Abuja. She previously served as the Research Officer at African Philanthropy Forum and the Gender Analyst for the Nigerian Dairy Development Project (NDDP) at Sahel. Ify has conducted field research and in-depth report analysis and writing; with a range of published and internal reports including PMNCH Partners’ Forum Report, NDDP Baseline Study, Toolkit for African Philanthropists Vol. 2 and most recently co-authored a chapter titled “The Influence of Religion on the Empowerment and Economic Mobility of Smallholder Women Dairy Farmers in Nigeria” in Muslim Women in the Economy: Development: Faith & Globalization, published by Routledge.
Ify holds a Bachelor in Social Science in International Relations, Sociology and Gender and Transformation (first class) from the University of Cape Town, South Africa and a Masters in International Development with honors from the University of Warwick, United Kingdom
Oladunmade Otitoola
Oladunmade serves as the Membership Coordinator at Nourishing Africa, where he drives efforts aimed at growing membership, managing and engaging agribusiness entrepreneurs on the Nourishing Africa Hub. He also works to ensure that members are connected to suitable growth opportunities for their businesses. Oladunmade has multidisciplinary working experience gathered across consultancy and SME-focused fields, including working at KPMG Professional Services and start-up companies thereafter.
Oladunmade holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry from the University of Ilorin, Nigeria. He was selected by the Tony Elumelu Foundation as one of the 1000 beneficiary entrepreneurs across Africa in 2016 for its flagship entrepreneurship programme.
“I am passionate about business being a force for good and being the development tool for transforming the African continent. Nourishing Africa’s focus on the agricultural sector which cuts widely across Africa as a major economic sector, provides a platform for creating lasting impact and shifting Africa from a dependent to a leading continent in the world.”
Rahmat Eyinfunjowo
Rahmat is the Co-Founder/Co-CEO (Operations) at Nourishing Africa where she leads the company’s membership engagement activities and internal business operations.
Rahmat has spent the past 3 years on consulting projects in the agriculture sector, providing project implementation and advisory services on key agricultural value chains in Nigeria including cocoa and cassava. Rahmat has provided business development services to a tech start-up in Northern Nigeria, helping to raise funding from a World Bank sponsored program; worked with smallholder farmers on a cocoa sustainability project across Southwest Nigeria; and provided backstopping support for a pioneer early generation seed enterprise in Ibadan, Nigeria.
Rahmat holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Agriculture with a specialization in Soil Science and Land Resource Management from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
“I am passionate about creating impact at the community level. Nourishing Africa’s vision of supporting 1 million agri-food entrepreneurs to scale their businesses aligns with my belief that for economies to grow, small businesses must grow; and so, through our activities in the landscape, we are able to have direct impact on the lives of the entrepreneurs we work with and on the communities where they work.”
Rosemary Okoro
As a UI/UX designer, Rosemary creates user-centered interfaces and digital products that identify and reflects the needs of users on the Nourishing Africa platform. Using her design knowledge, she helps solve UI/UIX problems and eases the process of using our various online platforms.
Rosemary is completing a Computer Science degree at Yaba College of Technology.
"Design should not only be aesthetically pleasing, but it should also be usable and solve the intended problem"
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Soso Okonkwo
Soso Okonkwo is a Program Analyst where she supports the Program Team in performing research and data analysis to identify Agric SME's business trends and opportunities at Nourishing Africa.
Soso has experience working in finance, research and development. Prior to joining Nourishing Africa, Soso worked as a Product Analyst at PyckMee, a ride-sharing startup in Pennsylvania, USA, where she managed core strategies and spearheaded projects to generate new users..
Soso holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Boston University, the USA with a minor in Mathematics, Film and Television.
Taofik Kareem
As a Web Developer, Taofik handles the implementation of new designs on the hub and the development of software processes for the Nourishing Africa platform. Using cutting-edge software designs, he works with the ICT and Programs team to develop new features on the Hub. Taofik has over 4 years of experience as a web developer, working with multiple startups, and a telecommunication company.
He holds a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin. He is also a Graduate Member of the Computer Professionals of Nigeria.
"I am passionate about solving problems that create a positive impact with the use of software and technology."
Wilson Akunmuo
Wilson serves as the Account and Admin Officer at Nourishing Africa, responsible for financial reporting, bookkeeping, internal audit, liquidity and grant management for the organization, as well overseeing daily admin operations.
Wilson has previously worked as an accountant with Sunnet Systems and Datacom Services Limited, where he was part of a team that handled bookkeeping, financial reporting, statutory remittances and managed the invoice procedures for multinationals including Chevron and Huawei. Prior to joining Nourishing Africa, he served as the Account and Admin Officer for Sahel Consulting, where he was part of the team responsible for grant management, project reporting and managing the company’s daily operations.
Wilson holds a B.Sc. in Accounting from the University of Jos and is currently in view of becoming an Associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).
"I am glad to contribute to managing resources through effective monetary and internal control policies, which provides the foundation to achieving Nourishing Africa's vision of 1 million agri-food entrepreneurs to scale their businesses."
Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli (MFR)
Board Chair
Managing Partner, Sahel Consulting
Co-Founder, AACE Foods
Founder, LEAP Africa
Founder, Nourishing Africa
Board Chair
Managing Partner, Sahel Consulting
Co-Founder, AACE Foods
Founder, LEAP Africa
Founder, Nourishing Africa
Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli is the managing partner of Sahel Consulting which is committed to transforming the agriculture and nutrition landscapes in Africa. She is also the co-founder of AACE Foods, which processes spices, flours and snacks made from the best herbs, vegetables and cereals in West Africa. She is the founder of LEAP Africa which inspires, empowers and equips a new cadre of principled, disciplined and dynamic young leaders and works in six African countries.
Ndidi started her career as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company, working in their Chicago, New York and Johannesburg Offices. She holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and an undergraduate degree with honors from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She was a Senior Fellow at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business & Government at the Harvard Kennedy School and an Aspen Institute New Voices Fellow.
Ndidi was recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, a Schwab Social Innovator (2020), and received a National Honor from the Nigerian Government. Ndidi serves on the boards of the Rockefeller Foundation, Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, Nigerian Breweries Plc. (Heineken), Godrej Consumer Products Ltd. India, Fairfax Africa Holdings Canada, BusinessDay Newspapers, Royal DSM Sustainability Board, Netherlands, the Center for Memories and the African Philanthropy Forum.
Ndidi is the author of “Social Innovation in Africa: A Practical Guide for Scaling Impact," published by Routledge. She is a TED Global speaker and her work has been featured on CNN, BBC and a range of international and local media outlets.
Ehouman Kassi
Managing Director
Bridge Bank Group
Managing Director
Bridge Bank Group
Ehouman Kassi, is a seasoned banker with 25 years of banking experience in Sub-Saharan Africa, including 17 years in leadership position covering both businesses and geographies.
He has more than 17 years experience as Managing Director or Business Head, of which 9 in commercial banking and 8 years in corporate finance, structured finance/investment banking and Trade Finance, covering Anglophone and Francophone countries in Africa. For over 16 years, Ehouman has actively sat on Boards in various countries including Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, South Sudan, Ghana, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Benin and France.
Ehouman has worked in 7 African and European countries and transacted in more than 20 of them. Ehouman is a result oriented and passionate about clients and Africa. He enjoys fresh challenges and demonstrated success in team building, business development and turnaround management
Ehouman KASSI holds a Masters in Finance from the University of Abidjan & Paris XII, and completed the Executive Management Training of INSEAD (France/Singapore).
Ike Ilegbune
Managing Director
iGate Consulting
Managing Director
iGate Consulting
Ike has been in senior corporate and consulting roles for the past 15 years, and heads iGate Consulting, a firm he founded to serve clients’ requirements for customised advisory and implementation expertise in governance operations & systems, project management and risk management.
In the years preceding iGate, Ike held senior roles on international development projects, serving as Country Manager and Director of Operations for the Business Innovation Facility (BIF), a 7-year DFID-funded programme of innovative collaborations across food value chains, aimed at enhancing economic opportunities for the poor. He also served on the board of the Convention on Business Integrity (CBi) and played a significant role, in partnership with the Nigeria Stock Exchange, in the development and implementation of the Corporate Governance Rating System (CGRS). Ike also led the design and implementation of the Micronutrient Fortification Index (MFI), working with leading Nigerian food processing corporations to improve compliance with mandatory food fortification requirements.
In addition to his extensive consulting roles, Ike has been a qualified legal practitioner for over 25 years, and is a partner with the law firm, Prof Charles U. Ilegbune & Co (SAN). Prior to his return to Nigeria in 2012, he was with Serco Group plc as a Principal in its management consulting subsidiary, following several years of work across the UK public sector in central and local government roles.
Ike holds degrees in Law from the University of Nigeria (LLB) and the London School of Economics & Political Science (LLM). He also holds a masters’ degree in public administration (MPA) from the University of Warwick Business School. He is a certified project manager and also holds a diploma in Lean Systems from the University of Cardiff.
Isis Nyong’o Madison
Principal, Asphalt & Ink
Co-founder, WomenWork
Principal, Asphalt & Ink
Co-founder, WomenWork
Isis Nyong'o Madison, based in Nairobi, is concurrently a Principal at Asphalt & Ink, a strategic advisory firm she founded to assist corporations, start-ups, governments, and non-profit organizations operating in Africa. She also serves as Non-Executive Director of the Nairobi Securities Exchange, East Africa's leading securities exchange, and as a Non-Executive Director at Finserve Africa.
Considered a thought leader on technology, Ms. Nyong’o has worked with InMobi, Google, and MTV in Africa. As InMobi’s Vice President and Managing Director for Africa, she developed and drove mobile advertising business strategy, with a focus on Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. At Google, Ms. Nyong’o developed and built strategic mobile and local content partnerships to distribute Google products, negotiating and closing over a dozen licensing deals with content owners from various sectors.
Previously, Ms. Nyong’o served as Senior Strategy and Commercial Manager for Africa and successfully led MTV Network’s commercial entry into Africa.
She was named one of “Africa’s Most Powerful Women” by Forbes and a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.
Ms. Nyong’o earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.A. in Human Biology from Stanford University.
Jolene Dawson
CEO
Thrive Agriculture and Nutrition Consulting
CEO
Thrive Agriculture and Nutrition Consulting
Jolene brings over 17 years of experience from the retail, agriculture, science, telecommunications, financial and development sectors together and uses this unique perspective to deliver leading market entry and growth strategies, cross-sector partnerships, value chain assessments and project implementation support.
Having worked at Accenture for over 10 years, Jolene has a keen knowledge of relevant agricultural technologies from remote sensing and precision agriculture to permaculture and other innovative Climate Smart agricultural practices. Jolene has been a keynote speaker at Xprize focused on the Grand Challenge of empowering smallholder farmers and BioAfrica Convention on creating market access for smallholder farmers, at the Farmers Weekly annual conference about the impact and opportunity that agriculture technology offers African farmers, and contributes to AgriLeaders magazine on how digital technology is becoming a part of everyday agricultural life.
Based in Johannesburg, she has worked mainly across the SADC region, including Zambia, Botswana, South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe but also has experience in Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Argentina and Japan. Jolene holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Microbiology and Zoology from Rhodes University and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Business Management from Wits Business School.
Patrick Tognisso
Regional Marketing Director
Unilever Francophone Africa
Regional Marketing Director
Unilever Francophone Africa
Patrick is a Senior Business Leader with more than 20 years of experience in food, beverage, and FMCG blue chip companies and is currently serving as the Regional Marketing Director for Unilever Francophone Africa. As such, he is responsible for developing products, brands and revenues of the company’s 3 business categories (Food, Detergents and Personal Care) in Ivory Coast and in the surrounding 24 francophone markets.
Before joining Unilever, Patrick worked as Key Account and Business Development Director with Tetra Pak, the leading carton packaging provider. During his time at Tetra Pak West Africa, he supported product development and manufacturing capability for established beverage and dairy businesses like Chi in Nigeria and Kirène in Senegal, and also helped regional entrepreneurs setting up greenfield manufacturing projects. Prior to that, Patrick had held various regional and local commercial and marketing roles at Philip Morris and Diageo, leading companies in the tobacco and alcoholic beverages industry, in France, the UK, Cote d’Ivoire, Switzerland and Senegal.
Patrick holds a Master’s in Management from ESCP Europe. Working with top players in their respective industries, he developed first-hand business skills including strategic planning, brand and sales management, consumer insight generation, route to market and product development. A supporter of upcoming African small businesses, he’s a member of the Dakar Business Angel Network and also advises a couple of African Start-ups. A Benin and French National, he has travelled extensively, nurturing and developing an effective leadership style, rooted in his deep understanding of both African and Western (corporate) cultures. Patrick is passionate about music and sports, he trained in martial arts and more recently tennis and yoga. He currently resides in Cote d’Ivoire with his family.
Temitope Adegoroye
Associate Partner
Sahel Consulting
Associate Partner
Sahel Consulting
Temitope is an Associate Partner at Sahel Consulting where he is responsible for client engagement, project management and implementation. He is passionate about the agribusiness sector and has worked extensively across a broad range of value chains, with specific expertise on roots and tubers. He is proficient in market analysis, business strategy development, business sustainability, and project management.
Temitope has led several studies on agricultural policies and market entry strategies and implemented consulting projects in a range of priority areas including innovations in seed systems, mechanization, on-farm productivity enhancement and improved market access for agribusiness stakeholders.
Temitope holds a Master of Science (MSc) in Agronomy from the University of Ibadan and received his undergraduate degree in Plant Science from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife. He is currently completing his MBA at the Lagos Business School, Nigeria.
Rahmat Eyinfunjowo
Co-Founder/Co-CEO (Operations)
Nourishing Africa
Co-Founder/Co-CEO (Operations)
Nourishing Africa
Rahmat is the Co-Founder/Co-CEO (Operations) at Nourishing Africa where she leads the company’s membership engagement activities and internal business operations.
Rahmat has spent the past 3 years on consulting projects in the agriculture sector, providing project implementation and advisory services on key agricultural value chains in Nigeria including cocoa and cassava. Rahmat has provided business development services to a tech start-up in Northern Nigeria, helping to raise funding from a World Bank sponsored program; worked with smallholder farmers on a cocoa sustainability project across Southwest Nigeria; and provided backstopping support for a pioneer early generation seed enterprise in Ibadan, Nigeria.
Rahmat holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Agriculture with a specialization in Soil Science and Land Resource Management from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
Ify Umunna
Co-Founder/Co-CEO (Programs)
Nourishing Africa
Co-Founder/Co-CEO (Programs)
Nourishing Africa
As the Co-Founder and Co-CEO (Programs), Ify manages the creation and implementation of programs for Nourishing Africa. She also oversees the ICT, Partnerships and Governance for the organization.
Ify has international experience in gender, maternal and adolescent health and nutrition at The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Adolescent Health (WHO), Geneva; Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, London; and Girl Effect, Abuja. She previously served as the Research Officer at African Philanthropy Forum and the Gender Analyst for the Nigerian Dairy Development Project (NDDP) at Sahel. Ify has conducted field research and in-depth report analysis and writing; with a range of published and internal reports including PMNCH Partners’ Forum Report, NDDP Baseline Study, Toolkit for African Philanthropists Vol. 2 and co-authored a chapter titled “The Influence of Religion on the Empowerment and Economic Mobility of Smallholder Women Dairy Farmers in Nigeria” in Muslim Women in the Economy: Development: Faith & Globalization, published by Routledge.
Ify holds a Bachelor in Social Science in International Relations, Sociology and Gender and Transformation (first class) from the University of Cape Town, South Africa and a Masters in International Development with honors from the University of Warwick, United Kingdom
Claudia Castellanos
Co-Founder & Managing Director
Black Mamba Foods
Claudia Castellanos is the Co-founder and Managing Director of Black Mamba Foods, a growing brand with a strong social and environmental ethos based in Eswatini that manufactures and distributes speciality food products in Southern Africa and overseas. Claudia has over 12 years of experience working as a marketing consultant for several business and NGOs in Eswatini and overseas, and as a lecturer for international universities such as the European School of Economics in Italy, and Mananga Business College Eswatini.
Claudia previously worked as a regional manager for SAIWA SPA, a former company of the Danone Group in charge of trade marketing and sales activities with the mail retailers of central Italy. She has also served as a trainer and mentor for Technoserve in Eswatini, and for several other business accelerator programmes.
Fred Zamble
Co-Founder & CEO
Seekewa
Fred Zamble is the CEO of Seekewa, an ag-tech startup based in Côte d’Ivoire. Seekewa provides a unique farm-to-table platform combining refundable e-vouchers and crowdfunding to allow people and organizations around the world to support small farming projects in Africa. He is a serial entrepreneur with a background in software engineering and has a passion for tech innovation and social impact. 
Before Seekewa, Fred successfully started two companies: Neuropixels, a web agency providing cutting-edge web solutions for companies, and Digicraft LLC, a digital marketing agency based in the USA.
Lesego Holzapfel
CEO & Founder
Bakamoso Impact Investments
Lesego Serolong Holzapfel is the CEO and Founder of Bokamoso Impact Investments and Bokamoso Foods, social enterprises dedicated to connecting the impoverished rural populations of South Africa to opportunity. Lesego and her husband Neil founded Raise the Children in 2008. Lesego, being a South African orphan herself, has always had a deep desire to give back to the community that raised her and to mentor and empower the many that share her story. Lesego is passionate about agriculture and African leadership as part of core entrepreneurial drivers that she speaks and teaches about.
Modou N.S. Njie
Founder & CEO
Farm Fresh
Modou N.S.Njie is the Founder & CEO of Farm Fresh. Modou is an ICT expert with over 20 years’ experience as an IT Consultant for UNDP and Deloitte and two major banks in The Gambia. Over the past five years, Modou has been working as a social entrepreneur, starting up Farm Fresh in The Gambia. With a focus on promoting local produce and thereby securing income for local farmers and food processors, Farm Fresh has allowed Gambians from the diaspora to easily order fresh and healthy food for their families at home.
Moses Mallaghan
Founder & CEO
Agro Innova
Moses Mallaghan is the Founder and CEO of Agroinnovagh, an agri-tech company that provides technological services to local farmers. As a young Ghanaian entrepreneur, he is determined to improve farming and the use of digital innovation in Ghana.
Nkiru Okpareke
Co-Founder & CEO
Enviro Gro Farms
Nkiru Okpareke is the Co-Founder and CEO of Enviro Gro Farms, a company created to produce high-end vegetables for the Nigerian market. Nkiru has over 20 years of working experience, with a decade of that experience at ExxonMobil as a project and design engineer and project manager for infrastructure projects in Nigeria, the United States, Singapore, and France. She also worked as a human capital development expert and management consultant in Canada and Nigeria.
Olagoke Balogun
Co-Founder & CEO
So Fresh
Olagoke Balogun is the CEO and Co-Founder of So Fresh, Nigeria’s pioneer and leading healthy food chain with over 10 locations in multiple cities in Nigeria. Olagoke is a graduate of biochemistry and has over 18 years of work experiences across different industries and functions. He is a strategy consultant and helps organizations to refine their strategic narrative, build scalable systems and structures, and develop operational and dynamic capabilities that helps them to build sustainable organizations that will outlive generations.
Olanike Majekodunmi
Founder & CEO
Nuts About Cakes
Olanike Majekodunmi the Founder and CEO of Nuts About Cakes Limited, a bakery which specializes in cakes, pastries and bread. Nike has over 14 years’ experience in the baking Industry and had worked in the e-payment industry for several years until she found her passion for baking. After leaving paid employment, she perfected her baking skills at a variety of baking schools both in Nigeria and the UK. She commenced building her dream company in 2007, which currently employs over 140 people. Nike is also a business coach, guiding young entrepreneurs in starting up businesses of their own. Her passion for the empowerment of young women drives her training programs, as she helps them grow to their full potential.
Sakina Soukrat
Manager & Director
Technobiz Sarl
Sakina Soukrat is a seasoned agriculture professional with 30 years’ experience in the agricultural sector. Over the years she has garnered extensive experience in micro propagation (in vitro) techniques across various species, development of economic models for certified seed production and implementation of seed production projects. An agronomist engineer by training, she currently manages Technobiz Sarl, an organization engaged in agricultural production and seed marketing, consulting in micro propagation and seed production in Morocco.
Sunday Silungwe
Co-Founder & Director
Good Nature Agro
Sunday Silungwe is the Co-Founder and a Director at Good Nature Agro. Good Nature Agro partners with smallholder farmers to improve their productivity through soil-enriching legume farming, and links them to high-value legume markets. Sunday leads Good Nature’s growth strategy and has a natural flair for innovation, combined with training and experience.
Mastercard Foundation - Young Africa Work
Mastercard Foundation work is guided by its mission to advance learning and promote financial inclusion for people living in poverty. The Mastercard Foundation's new strategy, Young Africa Works, outlines how, over the next decade, they will focus on finding solutions to the youth employment challenge and reducing poverty in Africa. When young people can secure formal work and a steady wage their lives improve.
Sahel Consulting Agriculture and Nutrition Limited
Sahel Consulting Agriculture and Nutrition Limited is committed to transforming Africa's agriculture and nutrition landscape. Sahel partners with government agencies, private sector companies, and leading international development organizations to provide agricultural value chain analysis, shape agricultural and nutrition policies, create catalytic ventures, and implement ecosystem solutions.
African Leadership Academy (ALA)
African Leadership Academy (ALA) seeks to transform Africa by identifying, developing and connecting a new generation of young leaders who will lead the continent towards lasting peace and shared prosperity for all.
The mission of ALA's Network is to create the support structures and programs that will catalyse this network of young leaders to take ownership of their shared mission and collaborate with each other and with program partners and friends of ALA to catalyse transformational change on the continent. The Networks team at African Leadership Academy will drive this work and willl achieve this through 3 main offerings: University Support, Professional Development and Sector Communities.
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Aceli Africa
Aceli Africa is a market incentive facility to mobilize over $600M in private sector lending for agricultural SMEs in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda by 2025. To achieve this goal, Aceli Africa expects to provide $40M in financial incentives over the next five years to increase the risk appetite of 20+ global and local financial institutions to make loans ranging from USD $25K-$1.5M to inclusive agricultural SMEs. Financial incentives have been designed based on an original dataset that Aceli Africa gathered and analyzed in collaboration with Dalberg Advisors. Aceli will also facilitate technical assistance to expand the ability of high-potential SMEs to qualify for and manage financing as well as capacity building for lenders to serve this market. Over the next five years, Aceli aims to catalyze a more competitive lending market for agri-SMEs and demonstrate a model that can be scaled up in East Africa and beyond.
First City Monument Bank (FCMB)
First City Monument Bank Limited (FCMB) is a member of FCMB Group Plc, which is one of the leading financial services institutions in Nigeria with subsidiaries that are market leaders in their respective segments.
FW Africa
FW Africa has grown from originally publishing one magazine to developing some of Africa's most impactful B2B trade events, consultancy and training and market research services. Their services are targeted at the senior business leaders who are responsible for making some of the most important decisions in the sub-Saharan Africa region.
Food For Mzansi
Food for Mzansi is a South African agricultural news and lifestyle publication. The publication is an initiative to introduce the world to the unsung heroes of the agricultural industry. Food for Mzansi unashamedly shares success stories and good news from the farms and agri-businesses who feed South Africa. In the last three years, it has won 11 global media awards, including Africa’s best digital news start-up.
Generation Africa
The Generation Africa movement seeks to inspire a next generation of African entrepreneurs, connecting them to the resources they need to move their businesses successfully from idea to scale. Generation Africa will also draw attention to opportunities for technological innovation and disruption in the agri-food sector, increase access to diverse forms of finance along the entrepreneur’s journey and strengthen the continent-wide agenda for youth entrepreneurship in the agri-food sector.
Invest In Africa
Invest in Africa (IIA) is focused on job creation and improving the business environment for both investors and local SMEs. IIA aims to increase the linkages between large international and domestic companies and smaller local business and increase access to skills, markets and finance.
Inclusive Business Action Network (iBAN)
The Inclusive Business Action Network (iBAN) is a global initiative supporting the scaling and replication of inclusive business models. IBAN manages an innovative online knowledge platform on inclusive business and offers a focused Capacity Development Programme for policymakers and investment seeking companies in developing and emerging countries.
Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF)
The Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) was established by The Lagos State Employment Trust Fund Law 2016 to provide financial support to residents of Lagos State, to tackle unemployment through job and wealth creation. LSETF focuses on promoting entrepreneurship by improving access to finance, strengthening the institutional capacity of MSMEs and formulating policies designed to improve the business environment in Lagos State. In addition, the Fund also develops programmes designed to train and place unemployed Lagos residents in jobs; while also focusing on programmes designed to drive innovation within the Lagos ecosystem.
Sterling Bank PLC
Sterling Bank Plc is a full service national commercial bank licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria. The bank provides services to individuals, small businesses (SMEs) and large corporations.
Nigeria Agribusiness Register
The Nigeria Agribusiness Register is an enabler project established to attract, facilitate and operationalize agribusiness investments in Nigeria and West Africa.
EDC SME Toolkit
The Enterprise Development Centre's SME Toolkit provides SMEs with free online key business management information, interactive tools, and training resources aimed at helping SMEs grow.