Kosmos Energy, one of Ghana’s Jubilee Partners has held a two day event dubbed Agritech Exchange for its twenty-five AgriTech Business Teams competing in the Kosmos Innovation Center 2017 AgriTech Challenge.
The exchange programme which aimed at helping these young entrepreneurs build the foundation for commercially-viable AgriTech start-ups which will address challenges confronting the agric sector in Ghana.
The event provided the platform for the young entrepreneurs interact with a mix of Ghanaian agribusiness representatives, local technology specialists, senior mentors in the agric sector and financial institutions.
The first day of the AgriTech Exchange was dedicated to the young entrepreneurs’ interaction with key players in the industry to discuss, receive support, suggestions and in-depth information about the agriculture. They in turns pitched their preliminary business plans; which the best will be selected for the Kosmos Innovation Center 2017 award, to a panel of judges and other stakeholders for feedback.
The second day was solely for the entrepreneurs to refine tune their problem statements, turning them into well-packaged business plans ready for pitching to the panel of judges later in the year.
Key stakeholders invited to the Exchange programme had already identified and prioritized a number of areas as the most pressing needs across Ghana’s agricultural value chain, including Livestock/Poultry/Fisheries management, on-farm Production and Post-Harvest Challenges. The rest are the Technical and Market Information for Farmers and agro processes, Finance and Insurance, and the ability to track food sources to authenticate agro-inputs.
Kosmos Energy’s vice president and country manager, Joe Mensah who was excited about the outcome of the 2016 Kosmos Innovation Center Award noted during the program that “we supported the creation of two start-up companies which are currently being incubated. We are encouraged by the huge response we have received from young entrepreneurs during this second season. At the end of the day, we are aiming to increase young people’s awareness of opportunities within agriculture so they can help to breathe new life into the sector. This is what we have committed to do as a partner in Ghana’s development.”
Before the exchange program, the 25 young entrepreneurs between January 29 and 6th February 2017 took part in a first Market Research tour covering four regions namely, Ashanti, Brong-Ahafo Eastern, and Northern Regions.
The first trip was arranged to give the entrepreneurs a feel of the agricultural landscape and the opportunity to interact with top CEOs and staff of fourteen institutions in Ghana across the agricultural value chain. The market research tour was an eye opener for the entrepreneurs, opening up networking opportunities with institutions and farmers.
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By: Obrempong Yaw Ampofo/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana
