NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 4 – AGRA has revealed the finalist list for the upcoming Women’s Agripreneurs of the Year Awards that will take place in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Dubbed ‘Value for Her’, the 2023 events will be held next month with participants drawn from 42 countries in Africa.
AGRA says that finalists were selected from a pool of 1,340 applicants through a very competitive exercise.
“The finalists represent an outstanding cohort of women who are driving innovation and growth in the agri-food, agritech, and aquaculture sectors in Africa,” read a report by AGRA.
“These candidates represent an outstanding cohort of women who are driving innovation and growth in African agri-food systems,” it adds.
The finalists are drawn from Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe, among other countries, in a competition that will see them battle in three categories: Outstanding Value-adding Enterprise, Female Agricultural Tech Innovator, and Young Female Agripreneur (Rising Star).
Each category has five nominees.
In the outstanding value-adding enterprise category, Bernice Dapaah, CEO of Ghana-based Bright Generation Community Foundation, and Jimoh Fatima, CEO of Nigeria’s Nafarm Foods, among others, have been named.
The Female Agricultural Tech Innovators category has Cecilia Rolence China, CEO of Tanzania-based AfriTech Organic Leather, and Kenya’s Joyce Waithira Rugano, CEO, Ecorich Solutions, alongside three others.
The last category brings on board Senegal’s Siny Samba, CEO of Le Lionceau; Lucy Chioma Aniagolu, founder of Naigwria-based Agrodemy Enterprises; and three others.
The increased number of women participants in this year’s event, AGRA says, shows more of them are entering the agri-food sector.
For example, the number has jumped to 42 from 38 in the previous competition.
The overall winner will walk home with $85,000.
The award was launched in 2021 and seeks to empower women agripreneurs by catalyzing agricultural transformation across Africa.
