The West Africa Agribusiness Challenge Fund event

The West Africa Agribusiness Challenge Fund event was held in Accra, Ghana on Wednesday 11 September 2024. The event brought together various stakeholders including SMEs, agribusiness associations, youth, refugee focused organizations and representatives from the Mastercard Foundation.

The event began with opening remarks from the Fund Engagement Partner, Smita Sanghrajka, followed by an overview of the Fund given by the Fund Program Director, Grace Mberia and GESI Lead, Muthoni Waweru.

Two sessions followed thereafter:

Panel session: How does the private sector play a critical role in building stability in the Agribusiness Sector?

The Fund Grants Lead, Wilson Irungu moderated this session. Panellists were David Oppong, UNHCR Ghana, Rashad Kadir, Crop life Ghana, Michael V Addae, Vinmak Farms and Fund Portfolio Lead, Joseph Sawe.

Rashad Kadiri gave insight on access to finance being one of the major challenges agribusinesses faces. He stated that financial institutions hesitate to lend to young farmers due to perceived risks and lack of collateral, but the private sector can mobilize finance in agriculture using innovative solutions such as blended finance. He added that by the private sector empowering young farmers and agri-preneurs, sustainable agriculture value chains would be created leading to a win-win situation for both farmers and the private sector in that farmers would benefit from easier access to finance, stronger market linkages, and higher incomes, while the private sector would benefit from better quality yields, increased trade volumes, and a stable supply.

 

Panel 1

 

David Oppong gave insight on the challenges faced by refugees in accessing finance and stated that lack of financial and other mainstream services can be a major hurdle to self-reliance and economic independence. He highlighted that most refugees live in countries where the legislation does not recognize UNHCR or government-issued ID as a valid document to open a bank account, which makes it difficult for refugees to spend, save and borrow money, as well as to start and operate a business. Without such services, refugees cannot fully participate in a country’s economy or build a stable life for themselves and their families.

The Fund Portfolio Lead, Joseph Sawe concluded the panel discussion by providing insight on how the Fund is supporting access to finance by giving direct grants and offering technical assistance to help SMEs grow and improve their business and in turn create work opportunities for young people, including refugee youth. He also stated that through the Connect intervention, the Fund will be able to connect selected SMEs to other investors.

Open session: Impact of small and medium scale enterprise development on youth empowerment and employment (with emphasis on young women).

The Fund Market Systems and Knowledge Lead, Grace Njiru led an open session where she posed the topic of discussion to the audience for some group discussions and consolidated the responses and fed them into the panel session that followed. Grace Njiru moderated this panel and the panellists included Barbara White Nkoala Hails, SNV, Barbara M. Wiafe, Fund Portfolio Manager-West Africa, Yohaness Awunyo, Youth Path Organization and Anaporka Adazabra, Farmio.

 

Panel 2

 

The panellist discussed how SMEs need to be more engaging by granting women the knowledge, resources, and authority to make independent decisions and participate actively in various aspects of employment in order to challenge and dismantle gender-based inequalities, enabling women to achieve their full potential and contribute to improving business growth. Barbara White Nkoala stated that SMEs can support women in various ways in the workplace by offering services like flexy time and maternity leave as these will attract and retain women in workplaces. Other highlights from the panel included that SMEs should ensure they have structures in place that ensure career development and advancement for women in their workplace to ensure gender equality. The panellists agreed that SMEs play a crucial role in economic development and contributing significantly to job creation. However, despite their undeniable importance, women entrepreneurs face substantial challenges that hinder their full participation and contribution to SMEs, thus limiting the overall impact of SMEs on women's empowerment.

 

Open Session

 

Barbara Wiafe concluded by stating that the Fund will support SMEs that will demonstrate their ability to create work opportunities for young people, especially women. She further shared that through the Fund Technical Assistance intervention, SMEs could receive assistance such as in technology assistance that would enhance their operation efficiencies and embrace digital tools that can be used to train women in digital skills so they can take up roles in tech environments.

The Fund Engagement Partner, Smita Sanghrajka gave the closing remarks thanking all stakeholders for attending, participating and sharing insights during the event. Overall, the West Africa Agribusiness Challenge Fund event was a success bringing together various stakeholders which led to valuable discussions and interactive sessions.