18/08/2025
Celebrating innovation in action
__The challenge and opportunity for Africa’s food entrepreneurs
Here I’m not talking about the farmers who grow food, but about who transform agricultural produce to create "Food Products” through innovation. Consider, for instance, Mr Kellogg, who took corn and turned it into “Cornflakes” and in so doing, created a multibillion-dollar business.
Africa is urbanising quickly. During your own lifetimes, you will witness the growth of African cities into some of the largest in the world, whilst some small towns today will become mega-cities. Urban dwellers everywhere look for fast easy-to-consume , which are also nutritious.
There are huge fortunes to be made by African food entrepreneurs. By this I mean those who can take fresh produce we in rural Africa and it into modern food products that can be sold in urban areas across Africa, and perhaps even exported globally as food .
When I launched the “GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize” in 2019 with my friends at AGRA and Yara, we were really trying to find a way to promote the work of Africa’s young food entrepreneurs.
Some of you follow this intense competition in which thousands of entrepreneurs come forward each year with truly remarkable products and solutions for Africa’s food sector. Since then, they've been busy some amazing businesses...
And tonight I am happy to share here some !
They have just announced this year's Top 13 entrepreneurs who will travel later this month to the The Africa Food Systems Forum - AGRF in Dakar, Senegal to pitch LIVE on stage to win $160,000 in grant prize money to grow their businesses.
Here's a link to find out more: https://gogettaz.africa/%F0%9F%9A%80-meet-the-top-13-finalists-of-the-2025-gogettaz-agripreneur-prize-competition/
If you click on their website links, you will see an array of innovative businesses in the agrifood sector, many enabled by , all involving thinking.
There's a story told about a devout farmer who used to pray and meditate whilst walking in his fields.
Suddenly, he stopped and looked to the sky: “Lord, why did you create the peanut?”
And the Lord replied: “Whilst your mind is too small to contain my answer, I’m happy to give you 50 innovations in which you can use the peanut”.
Why not ask your AI to give you a comprehensive list of which are based on the humble groundnut today and see how shockingly long the list is, even as it continues to grow!
But what if our farmer had asked about cassava? Or consider the wealth created by the palm oil around the world, even as we continue simply to ship it as a raw food product?!
There are also thousands of African fruit and vegetables that the world has never even heard of [yet]. All are just waiting for African innovators to transform them into new , while some will become used to make brand new products altogether.
__Don't just rush to ship the fruits of our African soil away to some far-off market. We must our local crops as food !
For you to rise and to that level, you will have to dig deeper into understanding these plants... beyond the casual way you know them now. Let's be smart about these things!
Join me in congratulating our young agripreneurs who are doing just that:
# Guaro Farms – Kidist Amedie (Ethiopia)
# ReNile – Hazem Eit Awab (Egypt)
# PROPOLINA – Amira Affaf Bellil (Algeria)
# Jodoor – Amine Derj (Morocco)
# Rada 360 Limited – Musa Mishamo (Tanzania)
# P-Vita – Naglaa Mohammad (Egypt)
# FRESHPACK TECHNOLOGIES – Editha Mshiu (Tanzania)
# DASEC SARL – Daniel Wa Mukina (DR Congo)
# PureLube – Fareeda Mustapha (Ghana)
# R Farms Nigeria Limited – Ajibike Olawale (Nigeria)
# Faso Elevage – Faïçal Abdoul Wakil Palenfo (Burkina Faso)
# Karpolax – Muyita Samuel (Uganda)
# Bio Green Technology – Niza Aritha Zulu (Zambia)
Criteria for selection: 1) Innovation; 2) Market Traction and Potential; 3) Business Model; 4) Social and/or Environmental Impact; and 5) Leadership and Management.
To find out more: https://gogettaz.africa/%F0%9F%9A%80-meet-the-top-13-finalists-of-the-2025-gogettaz-agripreneur-prize-competition/
Image credit: KWB-Ubuntu Hope. A blast from the past: Our GoGettaz finale in Year #1 of the Agripreneur Prize. Celebrating our young agrifood entrepreneurs, judges, and co-founder Sven Tore Holsether from Yara together with Mr Eazi and MC Sherrie Silver.
