🌍 Just Published in AIB Insights! Africa’s terrain and weather conditions turn it into one of the world’s most comparatively advantageous region; yet its share of global agricultural exports remains the lowest among world regions. Lilac Nachum develops policy agenda to remove obstacles for agriculture exports from Africa. The author suggests that effective export policy has to begin with addressing domestic obstacles, and discusses land administration and access to capital, as well as targeted cross-border interventions that are tuned to different geographies and crops. The agenda also advocates a differentiated trade policy approach that creates economic incentives for export of processed output, including as appropriate protectionist policies. View the full paper here: https://lnkd.in/dBcpHY7R
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With Africa’s share of world agricultural exports in steady decline, Prof. Lilac Nachum, Professor of International Business at The City University of New York and #VisitingProfessor at Strathmore Business School (SBS), calls for bold policies that unlock the continent’s natural advantages, shift from raw exports to value-added trade, and place agribusiness at the heart of Africa’s economic future. In her recently published paper, ‘The Export Performance of Africa’s Agribusiness Sector: A Policy Agenda for Change’, Prof. Nachum seeks to challenge the prevailing manufacturing-centric paradigm and make the case for an agriculture-led export strategy, grounded in Africa’s unique endowments and the urgent need for sustainable growth. She begins by establishing the basis for her belief in the potential of Africa’s agribusiness sector to champion Africa’s global integration, based on the principle of comparative advantage. Read the full Paper here: https://lnkd.in/dBcpHY7R #ResearchandInnovation #DevelopingGreatAfricanLeaders Strathmore University
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Vietnam’s fruit farmers are getting a A$2.1M boost from Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) to kickstart digital transformation and unlock a potential U$12M opportunity in the global fruit market. 🔗 Full story in the comments.
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UK backs Africa’s agribusiness with £5m pact Agriculture employs half of Africa’s workforce yet remains underfunded - now, a new UK–AGRA partnership aims to change that. With calls for local processing, intra-African trade and youth-led innovation, the continent’s food economy could be entering a new era. 🔗 Read more: https://lnkd.in/dVhnxpdh Thoughts? #AfricaAgriculture #FoodSystems #AgriTrade #InvestmentOpportunities
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Cambodia and India are poised to deepen agricultural cooperation, with fresh cashew nuts at the centre of new investment opportunities, following a high-level meeting between officials of both countries. https://lnkd.in/ginGidpG
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Ghana and Singapore have discussed cooperation in sustainable development and value-added agriculture, anchoring their talks around a pioneering carbon markets agreement and plans to scale agro-processing and jobs in Ghana. Bas Vlugt Pielina Kamau Andrea Ayemoba Kanali Nixon Michelle Waweru Patience RUTAYISIRE https://lnkd.in/dzrdEUxz
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Agribusiness in Africa: Feeding the Future, Together Africa’s agricultural sector is transforming, and U.S. businesses have a role to play. - With 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land, Africa is becoming a food production powerhouse. - The agribusiness market is projected to reach $1 trillion by 2030. - Local processing and export capacity are growing, especially with AfCFTA reducing cross-border trade barriers. This is a space where U.S.–Africa collaboration thrives: - Tech Meets Tradition: U.S. agri-tech, machinery, and climate-resilient seed tech can help African farmers scale, while American companies access new markets. - Joint Ventures in Value Chains: From storage to processing to logistics, co-investment opportunities abound across the continent. - Nutrition & Security: Food security isn’t just a local issue. Africa’s agri-growth benefits global food systems, especially in times of disruption. But there are questions we need to keep asking: - How do we ensure smallholder farmers benefit, not just large agribusinesses? - Can trade policy truly open up mutual access and remove long-standing tariffs and quotas? - How do we build sustainable value chains that serve both people and planet? Africa can feed the world. With the right partners, the U.S. can help make that happen, and benefit from it, too.
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Agribusiness manager || Co-Founder Fibrelux || KIC Fellow || Agriprenuer || Student Activist || Former SRC speaker of parliament UENR-DC|| Founder AgriWithWarris
From Soil to Stock Exchange: The Journey of Agricultural Value Addition 🌱🏦 A tomato grown in the field may sell for 1 cedi. That same tomato, processed into paste, packaged beautifully, and sold in supermarkets, can be worth 5 or 10 times more. This is the power of agricultural value addition transforming raw produce into high-value products that create jobs, boost incomes, and grow economies. Here’s the journey: 1️⃣ Production – Farmers grow quality raw materials using improved techniques. 2️⃣ Processing – Produce is cleaned, sorted, preserved, and transformed into market-ready products. 3️⃣ Packaging – Attractive, durable packaging improves shelf life and brand appeal. 4️⃣ Marketing & Distribution – Getting products to the right markets, locally and internationally. 5️⃣ Export & Investment – High-value products attract bigger markets and investor interest, creating opportunities even on the stock exchange. When we invest in value addition, we: ✅ Reduce post-harvest losses ✅ Create skilled jobs for youth ✅ Strengthen food security ✅ Earn more from exports Africa’s future in agriculture is not just about growing food, it’s about growing wealth. And that journey starts with the soil but doesn’t have to end at the farm gate. 🌍💼 #AgriWithWarris #ValueAddition #Agribusiness #FoodSecurity #YouthInAgriculture #AfricaRising #AgroProcessing Richard Kwasi Bannor, PhD Helena Oppong-Kyeremeh, PhDElizabeth Ofosu-Adjare FAO Mastercard Foundation International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) World Food Programme UNDP Ghana IFAMA Global Network
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In the past few months, Ghana has announced THREE major agricultural investments worth half a billion dollars. And the projects are: 1) Degas – a Japanese agri-tech company – has committed $100M to build the country’s first AI-powered Agricultural Hub; 2) Olam – the Singaporean agro-giant – will invest $200M in a pasta processing plant and feed processing plants for poultry & aquaculture; 3) Nu Agri Asia – a conglomerate from the Philippines – is betting $250M on a sugar mill and fruit processing units. Why should we care? 1. It’s all FDI coming from Asia. This signals a new “corridor” of investments and expertise flowing from Asia to Africa. For many reasons – ecology, climate, shared development challenges – it makes a lot of sense. 2. These investments fit neatly into the broader strategy – and electoral flagship – of President Mahama: the 24-hour economy. The fate of the 24-hour economy will ultimately mark the success or failure of Mahama’s presidency. What is it? A comprehensive strategy to boost production, productivity, and competitiveness in the Ghanaian economy. The phrase “24-hour” reflects one of its pillars: maximizing industrial asset use. Today, capacity utilization across Ghana’s industrial sectors stands at just 42–46%. In practice, every factory is half empty. That’s a problem. And you don’t fix it overnight. Low utilization usually means: poor access to raw materials, weak infrastructure, lack of coordination across value chains, post-harvest losses, inadequate storage, and so on. In other words: only a holistic approach can solve this. That’s why the most interesting programs in the 24-hour economy agenda are initiatives like the Volta Lake Industrial Corridor and the Agbleduwo agro-ecological park. The government seems to have realized that industrialization isn’t about opening a few factories and that’s it. No. It requires building entire value chains, and crafting policies that actually make those value chains work. At data bites, we’ll be following developments in this ambitious program closely over the coming months.
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This is good for intra-Africa trade and the #AfCFTA: FEGO Foods is addressing #Africa's agricultural investment gap by focusing on the "missing middle" – infrastructure connecting farms to ports – to unlock global market access, drive sustainable investor returns, and build scalable agro-export brands, having secured 100,000 hectares in #Ghana and relationships with export buyers worldwide. Thanks Festus C G Alhassan for sharing Happiness Makoye
CEO at FEGO Foods Processing Limited | Building Africa’s Leading Agro Export Infrastructure | Backed by 100K+ Hectares & Zero-Tax Export Zones 📌 #Agribusiness #AfricanExports #ImpactInvesting #SupplyChainInnovation
Investors Miss This About African Agribusiness Ask most investors what they think of African agriculture, and you’ll hear the same themes: “Too risky.” “Too fragmented.” “Too early.” They’re wrong. The biggest risk in African agriculture isn’t the land, the weather, or even the labor. It’s the missing middle. Billions flow into aid for smallholder farmers. Billions more into commodity importers. But almost no one is investing in the infrastructure layer that connects farm to port. FEGO Foods is solving that. We’ve already secured 100,000 hectares in Ghana’s Northern Region, with additional land offered by local chiefs that can scale us toward 1 million hectares. We’ve established relationships with export buyers in North America, Europe, and Asia who are ready to procure at scale—starting with a Canadian LOI for our initial production and regional poultry feed offtakes at commencement. Now we’re deploying the critical link: centralized processing, aggregation, and logistics under the Ghana Free Zones Authority with AfCFTA market access. That’s what unlocks global market access. That’s what creates trust with buyers. That’s what drives sustainable investor returns. Most investors miss this because they’re looking at either end of the value chain—production or trade. We’re building the middle—the most defensible and scalable part of the system. Africa isn’t just the future of global agriculture—it’s the present. And FEGO is laying the foundation for the billion-dollar agro-export brands of tomorrow. Want to explore the model and traction? DM us or book a call to review the materials.
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Professor and Ryder Eminent Scholar of Global Business, Dept. of International Business, Florida International University
3dAn incredibly timely and important topic.