“African youth are reshaping the agrifood landscape on the continent, and this movement must grow to transform the food system,” says Dickson Naftali, Head of Generation Africa. “Last year was a great year to build momentum. The United Nations Food System Summit, COP26, and a powerful AGRF Summit has set the pace. Generation Africa and our founders and partners are taking decisive action to steer the youth to build an African-led and African-owned food systems. Through the GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize Competition, our aim is to inspire them to create a system that delivers sufficient and nutritious food to the continent, that does not impact the environment negatively, and that creates sustainable, dignified jobs, and shared prosperity for Africa.”

The GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize Competition is a seed to fork entrepreneurship competition for social or business ventures working in or supporting other businesses in any part of the agriculture or food value-chain. To enter the competition, you must be an agrifood entrepreneur aged 18-35, who is the founder or co-founder of a business operating in the food system. You must be citizen of an African country and your business must have its head quarters in an African country. For more information and to enter the competition, applicants can go to: GoGettaz.Africa.

At the AGRF in September 2022, the GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize Competition will award one man and one woman with a US$50,000 grand prize each, to launch, grow, or scale their businesses. Four Food Warrior Awards will also be presented to GoGettaz finalists who are making a positive impact with their businesses. Finalists will participate in the AGRF 2022 Agribusiness Deal Room where they could meet future partners, investors, or clients.

Amanda Namayi, GoGettaz Lead at Generation Africa, says, “By providing the GoGettaz Community with opportunities, we are on a mission to motivate young people to build companies that create jobs in the food system. Financial incentives, like the GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize Competition, are enhanced by investment opportunities through the AGRF Agribusiness Deal Room, and mentorship and education on the community platform. New programmes, like the Generation Africa Fellowship Programme (GAFP), and scholarships to study master’s degrees at the University of Utah David Eccles School of Business are mobilising even more GoGettaz to make a success of their ventures.”

Four influential new partners have joined Generation Africa in their mission to inspire the youth towards a strong, independent, climate-smart food system. Generation Africa is proud to add the African Development Bank (AfDB) (www.AfDB.org/en), Bayer (https://bit.ly/3EsHDwm), Heifer International (www.Heifer.org), and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) (www.Norad.no) to the growing list of partners. These global leaders provide resources and support that create new opportunities for African youth in the agrifood sector. In 2021, and again in 2022, founding partner Yara International (www.Yara.com) provided full scholarships to select GoGettaz alumni (https://bit.ly/3Or7fyj) to pursue a Master’s in Business Creation at the University of Utah, David Eccles School of Business. And Global NPO Heifer International extended their support to youth in agritech through the Generation Africa Pitch AgriHack competition and the special AYuTe prize of 1.5 million dollars. With the support and expertise of its founders and partners, Generation Africa is excited to lead even more youth to scale in 2022 through the GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize Competition.

Fourteen impressive agripreneurs made it into the finals of the GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize Competition in 2021. “The entries were so good, that we eventually added two more finalists unlike the previous years,” Amanda Namayi shares. “Overall, 3307 hopeful agripreneurs from 36 African countries started the entry process, and seven men and seven women pitched their businesses in the finals before a high-level panel of judges. Applicants presented businesses from idea-stage to mature-stage and comprised agritech and fintech ventures, waste-to-value businesses, exiting alternative protein companies, and social ventures working in women empowerment and community growth.”

Generation Africa is excited to see what the youth of Africa bring to the table in the 2022 GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize Competition. To enter the competition and learn more about what it takes to win, agripreneurs can go to GoGettaz.Africa.  

Generation Africa Co-Founders:

African Development Bank Group: www.AfDB.org  

    We are on a mission to motivate young people to build companies that create jobs in the food system

Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa: AGRA.org

The AGRF:  www.AGRF.org

Bayer:  https://bit.ly/3EsHDwm

Corteva Agriscience: www.Corteva.com

Econet: www.EconetAfrica.com

Heifer International:  www.Heifer.org

Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation: www.Norad.no

Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions: www.SACAU.org

Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture: www.SyngentaFoundation.org

U.S. Agency for International Development: www.USAID.gov

Yara International: www.Yara.com

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize.