Italian trade promotion body, Italian Trade Agency (ITA), has organized an interactive skill acquisition session for businesses and entrepreneurs in Africa’s agro-food value chain under a structured program dubbed “Lab Innova for Africa”—a capacity building initiative on scaling African agro exports to the European market.

The week-long training featured selected African agribusiness owners and entrepreneurs in a high-impact training programme designed to equip participants with the technical, managerial, and market-access skillsets required to compete successfully in the European Union (EU).

Lab Innova is a specialised training programme for the agro-food sector in Africa, promoted by the Italian Trade Agency in close collaboration with key Italian partners, including Macfrut—one of Europe’s leading agro-food trade fairs.

Laura Ranalli, Italian Ambassador to Ghana (4th from left), with facilitators at the just-ended training program

In an interview, ITA’s Accra director, Mr. Luigi Puca, said the week-long interactive session was to get participants familiarized to the specific export requirements that would empower them to trade in the European market

“Through these trainings, we update African countries on Italy’s economic policy and legal frameworks in order to enhance their competitiveness and readiness for international trade. It’s also a win-win situation because through information exchanges, our small and medium enterprises will grow up together with their African counterparts,” said Mr. Puca

Broadly, the training aims to increase the technical and managerial capacity of African agri-food companies by equipping participating businesses with the requisite skillset and operational interventions that meet EU standards. This is expected to facilitate their access to European markets and to build mutually beneficial partnerships with Italian firms.

Participants were taken through intensive courses focused on business management, negotiation, international marketing, food safety regulations, logistics, packaging solutions, and environmental sustainability, facilitated by ITA experts specialised in the selected topics.

According to Mr. Puca, the training offered an opportunity to showcase market-leading innovations and update participants about specific food safety protocols especially for agribusinesses and actors within the agro exports value chain.

He added: “We have a framework of regulations and laws that have to be known by foreign companies and foreign producers. With this training, we are not only focusing on the technical aspect or marketing aspect, but also talk about the legal framework that stays around international trade.”

Beyond skills development, Lab Innova serves as a launchpad for technology transfer and innovation, drawing inspiration from Italy’s highly successful agri-food district model. These districts—clusters of interconnected producers, processors, technology providers, and research institutions—have been central to Italy’s global competitiveness in agro-food exports.

The training is seen as a timely intervention considering the EU’s stringent export measures on food safety and quality standards, packaging, traceability and sustainability—requiring that local agro-businesses get acquainted with the needed strategies to access the European market.

On his part, training coordinator Uberto Trulli, described Lab Innova as a forward-looking and mutually beneficial initiative that will enhance the technical and trade capacity of value chain actors within the African agro-food export space.

“This collaboration seeks to enhance exposure and global competitiveness for African agribusinesses. The main goal and target for this project is to give technical instruments and assistance to agri-food African businesses and to create bonds and interaction with Italian companies,” he emphasized.

To him, Lab Innova is a win-win relationship that supports the Italian marketplace with high demand for tropical fruits in EU market whilst African businessmen can adopt Italian agri-food technology, irrigation systems and the tools.

A participant and president of the Vegetable Producers and Exporters Association of Ghana—who is also the vice-president of the Federation of Association of Ghanaian Exporters, Dr. Felix Kamassah said the initiative was highly impactful and insightful.

“The European market is a different market altogether, and I’m so excited because Lab Innova provides the opportunity for agribusinesses and entrepreneurs in Africa’s agro exports value chain to access and thrive in this competitive market,” he shared.

He added: “I’ve gained practical knowledge about the demand of the European market and how I could explore existing gaps and opportunities as an entrepreneur and exporter—including understanding product branding and packaging.”

This year’s Lab Innova will be climaxed with a five-day study tour at this year’s Macfrut event to be held in Rimini, Italy—that includes a guided tour of the exhibition, visit to company sites, business-to-business and networking sessions.

It was organized in partnership with local business associations and state institutions namely the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA), the Federation of Association of Ghanaian Exporters (FAGE), and the Chamber of Agribusiness Ghana (CAG).

ITA is the official government body responsible for promoting the trade interests of Italian businesses around the globe as well as attracting foreign investments into Italy—focusing highly on agribusiness, manufacturing and technology transfer. It is also the bridge between Italy and global markets leading trade, investment and cooperation.