Official Newsletter of the African Agribusiness Incubators Network (AAIN) Secretariat.

1. AAIN DIGEST
Inside this edition
 Message from the CEO
 New Heights for incuba-
tion, business and youth at
2016 Conference
 2016 Conference through
the lens
 AAIN, ASSI MoU introduc-
es 4.5 million entreprenu-
ers in Ghana to agribusi-
ness incubation
 AAIN, AGRA on track to
rejuvenate seed business
in Africa through EcoSIB
 A new dawn for Zambian
agribusiness with the Afri-
ca Business Group
 Secretariat completes post
-graduate course in agri-
business management
and value chain analysis
 Your window to joining
AAIN as a member
Welcome to the Incubator of Incubators Center of Excellence (IICE) the AAIN Secretariat.
Editorial
The African Agribusiness Incubators Network brings you the maiden edition of the AAIN
Digest Newsletter.
This product is your spotlight on the news, events and updates in the spheres of the
AAIN Secretariat, the Incubator of Incubators Centre of Excellence.
As a team, we appreciate your collaboration along the way that is contributing to the
creation of jobs and wealth in Africa and promotion of agribusiness incubation models
as a tested means of strengthening businesses and building resilient enterprises.
Every step taken with you is a step towards a better business environment.
See back page for your window to joining AAIN as an individual, youth group, incubator
or institution and reach out to us for your seat at the 2017 Dakar Conference.
We also welcome you to follow our social media brand @AAINOnline on all platforms.
Thank you for walking with us.
Solomon Kalema Musisi
AAIN Communications and PR Manager
Official newsletter of the African Agribusiness Incubators Network

2. Message from the CEO
As a part of an entity that believes in the power of information as a tool for trans-
forming agribusiness today, I am pleased to welcome you all to the maiden edi-
tion of the AAIN Digest.
I also extend my sincere appreciation to the AAIN Board of Governors and all
who support the member incubators in delivering on their mandate in Africa as a
contribution to the targets of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development
Programme (CAADP), the Agenda 2063 and global themes in agribusiness.
Together with you, AAIN continues to relentlessly pursue the goals of the 2016-
2021 African Agribusiness Incubation Programme (AAIP) which is embedded in
our four core investment areas.
I take this opportunity to thank the over 800 delegates who participated in the
second Pan African Agribusiness Conference in Accra, Ghana from the 4th to
the 6th of October.
Thanks to your commitment, we held a better conference than the first and held
the first Annual African Youth in Agribusiness Day on the 5th
of October which
signifies our commitment to youth empowerment through incubation.
We look forward to your continued support and welcome you to join us in among
a series of events, the 3rd conference in Dakar, Senegal come October 2017.
Thank you for partnering with AAIN.
Alex Ariho (PhD)
Dr Alex Ariho, AAIN Chief Executive Officer
“African youth today are increasingly interested
in agribusiness. However the SMEs that are
started in Africa have 90 percent risk of failure
in their infant stage.Agribusiness incubation
makes it possible for them to not only achieve
sustainability but to also engage with mentors
and access technologies. We are making this
easier with the establishment of the Incubators,
Technology Supernmarkets, the Small Scale
Incubator Hubs and mentors.”
-Perspective embraced by among others,
Guzakuza, a vibrant incubator for youth and
women.
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3. New Heights for incuba-
tion, business and youth at
2016 Conference
From the fourth to the sixth of
October 2016, Accra Ghana
was the hub of agribusiness
activity, hosting over 800
delegates for the second
Conference organized by
AAIN and committed partners
from Africa and beyond.
The highly-acclaimed event
was officially opened at the
Accra International Confer-
ence Centre by a delegate
panel of :
Ghana Minister for Food &
Agriculture Hon. Mohammed-
Munira Limuna (Alhaji)
Her Excellency Rhoda Peace
Tumusiime the African Union
Commissioner for Agriculture
and Rural Economy
Prof Henry Bwisa the AAIN
Board Chairperson
Dr Alex Ariho the AAIN CEO
Dr Yemi Akimbamijo the Ex-
ecutive Director of the Forum
for Agricultural Research in
Africa (FARA)
and HE Tove Degnbol the
Ambassador of Denmark.
The African Union Commission renewed its commitment to agribusiness incubation.
One of a series of additions to the conference was the declaration of 5th October as the African
Youth in Agribusiness Day.
This day according to Prof Henry Bwisa is a timely intervention for Africa given that the continent
now hosts the youngest population, as compared to other continents.
“We have over 200 million youth (between 15 and 24) out of about 1.2 billion people.This day is
only one of a series of means to make agribusiness, particularly incubation, more attractive for
the youth in Africa,” he says.
On the day, over 100 youth signed the 5th October Youth Declaration on agribusiness incubation.
The AU Commission was represented by HE Rhoda Peace Tumusiime the Commissioner for
Agriculture and Rural Economy in the signing of an MoU with AAIN for the continued collabora-
tion in enhancing agribusiness incubation. See conference feature
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4. The 2016 AAIN Conference through the lense
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2016 Conference through the lens
Some of the day one delegates. AAIN believes in the commitment of the people. You made the 2016 conference worthwhile.
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5. AAIN, ASSI MoU introduces 4.5 million entreprenuers in Ghana to agribusiness incubation
AAIN entered into a historical MoU with the 4.5 million member
Association of Small Scale Industries in Ghana (ASSI) that was
represented by the President Momeen Saeed.
The signing highlighted AAIN’s inclusion of small scale indus-
tries which absorb an estimated 80 percent of the working popu-
lation in Africa.
Lukman Abdul Rahim the Executive Director of the National
Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) was also in attend-
ance .
See aain-assi-press-release
We held the first Pan African
Agribusiness Conference and
Expo in Nairobi, Kenya 2015.
Accra, Ghana hosted the
second in 2016.
The 3rd Pan African Agribusi-
ness Conference and Expo
goes to the coastal Senega-
lese capital of Dakar from 4th
to 6th October, 2017.
Senegal, the home of “Le
Monument de la Renaissance
Africaine”, that is building
resilience through the Nation-
al Strategy for Economic and
Social Development (SNDES
2013-2017) for an agricultural
sector that is estimated to be
the primary source of liveli-
hood for over 69% of the
country’s population is the
2017 host.
Book your seat in Dakar,
2017.
Email info@africaain.org for
updates and inquiries.
Click map to view the capital
Dakar in 4 minutes.
for updates and inquiries.
From the gallery
Honorary Award Receipient HE Rhoda Peace Tumusiime, AU Commissioner for Agriculture and Ru-
ral Economy(Center)
A participant at the drone technology training organised in conjunction with CTA. See media feature
Visit www.cta.int for more insight on the drone technologies and ICT for agriculture programmes.
One of a number of best exhibitors (Left) from the Expo
Best ncubatee award receipient Sandrine Gashora(2nd from right) from the Republic of Rwanda
See media feature
See 2nd AAIN Conference album.
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AAIN, AGRA on track to rejuvenate seed business in Africa through EcoSIB
AGRA through the Scaling Seed and Technologies Partnership
(SSTP) program, established the Entrepreneurship for Com-
mercial Seed Incubation Business (ECoSIB) with AAIN as
a seed incubator.
Being the first of its kind in Africa. ECoSIB has since grown into
a one-stop-centre for seed entrepreneurs through mentoring
and hand-holding services, competency-based training for
SMEs, establishment of seed information hubs and private-
sector led small to medium scale seed processing centers.
The incubator was represented at the AGRA EGS Dialogue
co-organised with USAID and continues to focus on icontinued
increase of availability and accessibility of superior quality seed
to smallholder farmers.
Read more
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AAIN Digest maiden edition 2016
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Follow us on the AAIN social media brand @AAINOnline on all platforms
Save 4th to 6th October 2017 for the 3rd Pan African Agribusiness Conference in Dakar, Senegal

6. Fronting women and youth CEOs in Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria. Shared FAO objective
With a spotlight on gender mainstreaming in agri-
business a team from the AAIN Secretariat held
two sessions with eight young CEOs of eight youth
-led companies from Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya at
Guzakuza, a member incubator of AAIN .
Nana Adjoa Sifa who is the initiator of the Guzaku-
za incubator referred to the role of the young wom-
en as timely given their attachment to the incuba-
tor and partners.
Stephanie Gallatova from the FAO who was on a
visit to the secretariat expressed common goals by
the FAO. Read more
AAIN, UNCST sign MoU for technology supermarkets to foster technology commercialization
Dr Peter Ndemere the Executive Secretary of the
Uganda National Council for Science and Technology
signed an MoU on behalf of the Council with Dr Alex
Ariho the AAIN CEO with the main aim of setting up
technology supermarkets.
This landmark partnership comes within the year
where AAIN is running the campaign of “Turning sci-
ence into business” and is in line with one of AAIN’s
core investment areas which is commercialisation of
technology and innovations.
Dr Ndemere highlighted the fact that this step reflects
the UNCST’ s goal of developing and implementing
ways of incorporating science and technology in the
development process Read more
AYNAT to launch value chain agribusiness incubator
The African Youth Network for Agricultur-
al Transformation (AYNAT), a vibrant
continental youth group supported by
the Africa Lead Programme of USAID is
set to launch an agribusiness incubator in
collaboration with AAIN.
The team is focusing on SME growth
along selected value chains starting with
the fruits and vegetables. Read more
We held the first Pan African
Agribusiness Conference
and Expo in Nairobi, Kenya
2015.
Accra, Ghana hosted the
second in 2016.
The 3rd Pan African Agri-
business Conference and
Expo goes to the coastal
Senegalese capital of Dakar
from 4th to 6th October,
2017.
Senegal, the home of “Le
Monument de la Renais-
sance Africaine”, that is
building resilience through
the National Strategy for
Economic and Social Devel-
opment (SNDES 2013-2017)
for an agricultural sector that
is estimated to be the prima-
ry source of livelihood for
over 69% of the country’s
population is the 2017 host.
Book your seat in Dakar,
2017.
Email info@africaain.org
for updates and inquiries.
Click map to view the capital
Dakar in 4 minutes.

7. AAIN members were treated to a meeting that was
centered on the discussions about members’views
of AAIN investment going forward into 2017,
among them the African Agribusiness Incubation
Fund (AAIF) and the consolidated efforts to set up
Small Scale Incubator Hubs.
The members were joined by AAIN staff for a ses-
sion that explored value chain opportunities, finan-
cial management techniques and members’ over-
view of the services available from AAIN and the
incubation ecosystem. Read more
Secretariat completes post-graduate agribusiness course with ELS and University of Ghana
AAIN staff completed a Post-Graduate Course
in Agribusiness Management and Value Chain
Analysis led by Prof Peter Wyer from the En-
trepreneurial School of London (centre in pho-
to).
The course which was co-hosted by the Uni-
versity of Ghana.
Regional and liaison offices of AAIN are set to
benefit from the same as part of the continued
building of capacity for AAIN to best address
the dynamic needs of the incubation ecosys-
tem.
Read more
A new dawn for Zambian agribusiness with the Africa Business Group
To further strengthen the adoption and
dissemination of technologies in an effec-
tive way, AAIN partners, the Africa Busi-
ness Group developed the Global African
Agribusiness Accelerator Platform
(GAAAP).
The Platform will be launched from Tues-
day 13th to Wednesday 14th December
with an inaugural session Workshop on
Technology and Mechanization Adoption
in Lusaka, Zambia. Read more
AAIN members treated to a business meeting with investors at the AAIN Secretariat
We held the first Pan African
Agribusiness Conference
and Expo in Nairobi, Kenya
2015.
Accra, Ghana hosted the
second in 2016.
The 3rd Pan African Agri-
business Conference and
Expo goes to the coastal
Senegalese capital of Dakar
from 4th to 6th October,
2017.
Senegal, the home of “Le
Monument de la Renais-
sance Africaine”, that is
building resilience through
the National Strategy for
Economic and Social Devel-
opment (SNDES 2013-2017)
for an agricultural sector that
is estimated to be the prima-
ry source of livelihood for
over 69% of the country’s
population is the 2017 host.
Book your seat in Dakar,
2017.
Email info@africaain.org
for updates and inquiries.
Click map to view the capital
Dakar in 4 minutes.
Save 4th to 6th October 2017 for the 3rd Pan African Agribusiness Conference in Dakar, Senegal
AAIN Digest maiden edition 2016

8. Building the agribusiness media incubator with youth from Ghana and Nigeria
AAIN, FAO and AUC experts explore more constraints and solutions in agribusiness incubation
To revisit the involvement of the private sec-
tor in offering solutions within the agribusi-
ness environment, especially for the youth
and women, AAIN shared the platform with
the continental and global umbrellas, the
African Union through the Department of
Agriculture and Rural Economy (AUC-DREA)
and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of
the United Nations (FAO).
In addition to building capacity of mentors
across Africa, the strong partnerships have
explored the gaps as well as solutions for
African agribusiness Read more
The team, which offered social media cover-
age during the second Pan African Agribusi-
ness in Accra, Ghana in October is also a
beneficiary of training from experts from the
Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural
Cooperation (CTA),.
With AAIN, they set up the first agribusiness-
media incubator to enhance use of modern
communications platforms and informed cov-
erage of the dynamic sector.
The dynamic team is now set to cover one of
the biggest gaps in Africa’s agribuisiness sec-
tor today in harnessing modern approaches.
Read more..
We held the first Pan African
Agribusiness Conference and
Expo in Nairobi, Kenya 2015.
Accra, Ghana hosted the sec-
ond in 2016.
The 3rd Pan African Agribusi-
ness Conference and Expo
goes to the coastal Senega-
lese capital of Dakar from 4th
to 6th October, 2017.
Senegal, the home of “Le
Monument de la Renaissance
Africaine”, that is building re-
silience through the National
Strategy for Economic and
Social Development (SNDES
2013-2017) for an agricultural
sector that is estimated to be
the primary source of liveli-
hood for over 69% of the
country’s population is the
2017 host.
Book your seat in Dakar,
2017.
Email info@africaain.org for
updates and inquiries.
Click map to view the capital
Dakar in 4 minutes.
Above: HE Rhoda Peace Tumusiime with the AAIN Board during her visit to the AAIN Secretariat
Group photo from the FAO session of the second AAIN Conference in Accra, Ghana October 2016.
Save 4th to 6th October 2017 for the 3rd Pan African Agribusiness Conference in Dakar, Senegal

9. AAIN is registered in Accra, Ghana as a private sector entity & internationally recognised as a Business Devel-
opment Company.
Mandate: Incubating Incubators for Jobs and Wealth Creation in Africa
Value Proposition: To be the hub of innovation for African agribusiness incubation
Membership: Incubators, SMEs, associations, institutions, companies, Government bodies and individ-
uals.
Affiliations to date: 158 Universities, 30 Private Sector Forums, 4 Sub Regional Research Organizations
and 3 International Research organizations. It is one of the technical arms of the African Union Commission
(AUC) on Agribusiness Incubation, and a business development partner to the Food and Agriculture Organisa-
tion of the United Nations (FAO), the Pan African Farmers Organisation (PAFO), International Institute of Tropi-
cal Agriculture (IITA), The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA), The African
Development Bank (AfDB), the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), Alliance for a Green Revolu-
tion in Africa (AGRA) Non-State Actors and Youth Networks.
We have vast experience of establishing successful agribusiness incubators in Africa, with a continent-wide
membership of 130 agribusiness incubators and a mentors’ network that brings together unrivalled wealth of
African agribusiness experience and knowhow to promote Africa’s enormous agribusiness potential.
Regional and Contact Offices: Kenya, Rwanda, Mali, Uganda South Africa, Senegal, Zambia and Benin.
JOIN AAIN AND ENJOY A WIDE RANGE OF EXCLUSIVE SERVICES.
Contact Us:
African Agribusiness Incubators Network-AAIN
Nii Noi Kwame Street, North Dzorwulu, Accra, Ghana
P.O Box CT 2724 Cantonments Accra, Ghana
Tel +233 302 774838 | 302 744888
Email us: info@africaain.org
Stay up-to-date follow us on social media @AAINOnline
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