This post originally appeared on LinkedIn.

Efforts aimed at identifying, nurturing and scaling innovative agribusinesses could play a pivotal role in advancing agro-based industrialisation in Africa. A World Bank report “Growing Africa: Unlocking the Potential of Agribusiness,” states that Africa’s farmers and agribusinesses could create a trillion-dollar food market by 2030 if they can expand their access to more capital, electricity, better technology and irrigated land to grow high-value nutritious foods.

The potential growth of Africa’s food and beverage markets will only be possible with adequate investment in innovative and growth-oriented small and growing agribusiness enterprises. Today, these small and growing businesses (SGBs) create around 80 percent of Africa’s employment, establishing a new middle class and fuelling demand for new goods and services. Gradually, these firms will play a pivotal role in industrial development and restructuring, meeting rising local demand for goods and services, allowing for increased specialisation and supporting larger firms with inputs and services. In sum, the SGBs will become engines that sustain growth for long term development.

What should be done to catalyze this trend?

• Grooming homegrown innovative African SGBs into successful and investment attractive enterprises
• Promoting agro-preneurship, skills-building and access to capital 
• Promoting a holistic focus on value-addition across the entire value chain, supported by innovation and appropriate agricultural technology 
• Facilitating linkages to global markets and production networks

The food and agribusiness sector is very attractive to African enterprises and investors. Unlocking this opportunity necessitates supporting committed small and growing businesses achieve their vision focusing on refining their growth strategy and operations, addressing critical organizational challenges, sourcing growth capital and setting a stage for effective execution.

Our team at www.NetBizImpact.com is committed to supporting innovative and high-impact African enterprises in the food and agribusiness sector convert this opportunity into wealth through a variety of tailored business advisory and investment readiness services while driving fast-paced and inclusive agro-industrial and manufacturing-based economic growth on the continent.  

We are looking for partners – individual and institutional investors, financial institutions, development partners and other private and public stakeholders. Reach out to us via [email protected]