GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize returns in 2020

L to R: Isaac Sesi from Sesi Technologies Ghana and Bonolo Monthe of Maungo Craft, Botswana received the GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize in 2019.

Source: APO

The $100,000 GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize Competition 2020 is back for its second year. The competition aims to inspire young people throughout the African continent to launch and grow innovative or technology-driven businesses in the agrifood sector, from “seed to fork” and beyond.

The 2020 GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize Competition will acknowledge two innovative ventures, one led by a man and one led by a woman who founded or co-founded businesses in the agrifood sector in Africa. The winners each awarded a grand prize of $50,000 along with an industry-leading support network to take their businesses to the next level.

The competition launches as the coronavirus pandemic is having a severely negative impact on health, well-being, and livelihoods of billions of people throughout Africa and the world. While the ultimate costs of this crisis are unknown, tremendous effort and innovation is needed to keep agribusiness going and ensure the health crisis does not translate into also a severe food crisis. Leadership and coordinated action are required at global, national, and local levels to find solutions for agrifood systems that are responsive to, and supportive of, health measures. Africa’s youth agripreneurs have a huge role to play.

“We have decided to go ahead with the 2020 GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize Competition. Not despite the coronavirus, but because of it,” says Svein Tore Holsether, president and CEO of Yara International.

“Now, more than ever, we need to support African agrifood entrepreneurs and the small and medium agribusinesses on the continent. They are the people who produce food and get it to the people who need it. They will be the people who help to rebuild our economies after the pandemic is over.”

The GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize Competition is open to young, agrifood entrepreneurs, aged 18–35 from across Africa. Applications can be submitted to the competition via http://gogettaz.africa.

Ten finalists will be invited to compete in a live or virtual pitching contest at the Africa Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) Summit between 8-11 September 2020. The two GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize winners will receive their US$50,000 awards alongside the prestigious Africa Food Prize. All 10 finalists will be awarded mentorship, programming linkages and other guidance to continue their entrepreneurial journey.