Innovations Session N°1

Dr. Ousmane Badiane, Distinguished Fellow of the African Association of Agricultural Economists, recipient of the Africa Food Prize in 2015, and member of the World Academy of Sciences, is the founder and Executive Chairperson of AKADEMIYA2063. He has over 30 years of experience, as an academic and a practitioner, in international development. As the Director for Africa at the International Food Policy Research Institute, he was instrumental in developing and guiding the implementation of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme. As Lead Specialist for Food and Agricultural Policy at the World Bank, he served as advisor to the Vice President for Africa and originated projects with funding ranging from US$5 million to US$150 million. Between research and development finance, Dr. Badiane taught Economics of Development in Africa at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies for many years. Dr. Badiane received PhD in agricultural economics from the University of Kiel in Germany. He is also a recipient of a Doctorate Honoris Causa from the University of KwaZulu Natal.

Fatma Ben Rejeb has been working with farmer organizations for more than 20 years. She began her involvement in land and legal affairs with farmers and their grassroots organizations. Subsequently, she held the administrative and financial management then the international cooperation and partnership management at the Tunisian National Farmers Organization. She has been the Director of the North African Farmers’ Network, UMNAGRI. Fatma received a Diploma of Advanced Studies in Political Science, a Masters in Juridical Sciences, and a Certificate of Specialized Studies in Political and International Studies. She is fluent in Arabic, French, English, Italian and basic knowledge in Spanish.

Isolina Boto is the Head of Networks and Alliances at COLEAD, a nonprofit Association of private sector operators in the agrifood sector active in the EU, Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific regions. Isolina has more than 25 years of experience in agricultural development. She started her career with the European Commission and has also worked with various ACP embassies and NGOs in areas related to food security, rural development and trade. Before joining COLEAD, she was the Manager of the CTA Brussels Office (2004-2020) implementing policy initiatives related to the ACP-EU cooperation in the field of agricultural and rural development. She has led agribusiness projects in support of capacity development of SMEs, entrepreneurs and farmers organisations across Africa, the Caribbean and he Pacific.

Ensure the overall management of the company, responsible for the administrative, accounting, technical, and commercial management of the Company. After her graduate studies in finance at the International School of Management of Morocco, where she obtained her master’s degree in 2008, Halatou decided to return to her country and put her knowledge and skills at the service of the family business ‘’ Danaya Cereals “which later became“ LES CEREALES DE TATAM SARL ”created by his mother Ms. DEM Aissata Thiam in 1992.“ Les Céréales de TATAM ”is a family business specializing in the processing and marketing of local cereals in Mali. Halatou has brought a modern touch to the operation of the company since its inception. In particular by successfully moving the production unit to an industrial zone with the support of USAID in 2015. His entrepreneurial actions within Danaya have enabled him to benefit from the technical and financial support of several international organizations. such as PAM-GAIN, UN WOMEN, or USAID. She received the Best Entrepreneur Award 2017 by B & T Communication – Events on January 13, 2018. Very committed to the fight for ecology, she participates in several workshops and exhibitions on the theme of agroecology. In 2018, she was ranked by the Mali newspaper
among the “50 most influential people in Mali.” Alongside her various activities, Halatou continues her fight so that TATAM Cereals can reach their maximum productivity in order to meet the need. of the national and international market. She also continues her fight for emancipation and employs women and particularly Malian women by giving priority to women and young people in the recruitment of staff for her company.

Stephen Mintah, a Ghanaian, has been President of COLEACP since June 2013. He is the General Manager of Sea-Freight Pineapple Exporters of Ghana (SPEG). Graduated from the Faculty of Agriculture in 1976, he joined the Agriculture and Development Bank, where he was in charge of funding development of the Ghanaian agricultural sector. He worked there for 20 years and deepen his knowledge of the country’s agriculture sector. In 1998, he joined SPEG, an association that brings together Ghana’s main pineapple producers and provides its members with technical, commercial and logistical support. The members are mid-sized producers, but they are linked to small-scale producers who also benefit from SPEG services.

Ranked by Forbes Magazine among the «top 30 entrepreneurs under 30 years in Africa» Eric is a young Kenyan entrepreneur who founded Stawi Foods and Fruits, a food processing company that processes dried fruits and grains into nutritious foods for Kenyan families. Eric’s mission is to use an entrepreneurial approach to transform local economies and solve Kenya’s pressing problems in a sustainable way. The company is making an effort to provide genuine benefits to smallholder farmers who need sustainable markets for their produce. Eric holds an MBA, Bachelor’s Degree in Law, Executive Leadership in Africa’s Food Security, and Diplomas in Rural Entrepreneurship and Sustainability/responsible business. Eric has been featured on CNN’s African Start-up program and has received several awards and recognition by President Obama as a YALI Fellow.

Alex Muli is the Co-founder and lead Agripreneur at Goshen Farm Exporters Ltd a Kenyan food producer, processor, and exporter of fresh horticultural produce and fruit value-added snacks. Since its formation 10 years ago he has strategically led the organization in to resiliently build a sustainable food system focused on all-inclusive Agriculture, food loss mitigation, and innovative food processing of Kenyan tropical fruits into natural and healthy fruit snacks. He is a graduate of Moi University School of Business and Economics, Eldoret, Kenya, and holds an MBA Degree from USIU Africa Nairobi. Alex also holds a postgraduate certificate in Business Development with Innovations from the Frankfurt School of Finance in Germany. Alex envisions a world where African Agriculture will be able to feed the world while creating dignified employment for its young population. He is a Silver & Gold standard Holder for the Duke of Edinburgh President’s Award Scheme Kenya, 2010. He is the 2019 Africa Development Bank’s Africa Young Agripreneurs Forum Winner.

Elizabeth Nsimadala is a Ugandan young agriprenuer, the President of the Pan Africa Farmers Organization (PAFO) and the Eastern Africa Farmers Federation (EAFF). She was recently appointed to the Advisory Committee for the UN Food Systems Summit 2021, serves on the Global steering committee for Forest Farm Facility (FFF), is a Governing Council member for Africa Fertilizer Financing Mechanism (AFFM), and sits on the steering committee of Pan Africa Agribusiness Apex Chamber (PAAAC) among others. She is a passionate cooperator who with others spearheaded the push to have the regional law on cooperatives – The East Africa Cooperative Societies Bill 2015 through the East Africa Legislative Assembly which awaits ascent by the EAC Heads of states. Elizabeth is also a farmer champion who has been at the forefront of championing farmer-led agriculture technology and innovation through the EAFF farmers’ owned eGranary mobile initiative that virtually aggregates farmers for input, service, and output markets. As a result of her efforts in supporting Farmers Organizations, she was Globally recognized by the World Farmers Organization as one of the women contributing to sustainable development.

Willem (Wim) Olthof is Deputy Head of the Unit ‘Rural Development, Food Security and Nutrition’ of the Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development of the European Commission. This unit deals with policy development and implementation of international cooperation related to food security, nutrition, and sustainable agriculture. From 2014 to 2018, he was the Alternate Permanent Representative at the Delegation of the European Union in Rome dealing with FAO, IFAD, and WFP. Before that, he worked in Brussels and held posts covering policy development on agriculture, food security, and nutrition, as well as on geographic cooperation with the Horn of Africa, specifically Ethiopia. During this period he was closely involved in the development of the external EU food security policy, in the EU resilience initiative for the Horn of Africa, as well as in establishing the € 1 billion EU Food Facility. In the period 1996-2005, he was posted in the EU Delegations in Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, and Ghana. Before joining the European Commission, Mr Olthof lectured at the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, The Netherlands, and at the Universities of Zimbabwe (1989-1992) and Addis Ababa (1996-1997) on rural and regional development.

With a secondary education, Alice received and benefited from several training courses from different Associations that promoted and developed women in the informal sector in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso). In 2000, she decided to relocate her small business to the heart of mango production and orchards to better control the availability and supply of fruit. It employed 15 people, mostly women. In 2009 she became the president of the GIE CDS (circles des syers) specializing in the sale and promotion of organic dried fruits and vegetables from Burkina Faso and sold in Europe. She then participated in various European fairs to represent the production of C.D.S. This allowed him to acquire good business knowledge. In 2016 MANGO-SO became a SARL company and itself exports its production to Europe. Alice improves production quality by training all her staff in HACCP practices. She was distinguished as the best exporter of dried mangoes in 2015 by the APEX agency (Agency for the Promotion of Exporters of Burkina Faso) In 2020 MANGO-SO SARL employs around 500 people, mainly young people and women. MANGO-SO diversifies its production by processing the coconut, which gives work to its staff all year round because the mango is a seasonal fruit whose production period lasts only 4 months. It is still thinking of diversifying its production panel by investing in the years to come by processing cashew nuts.

Prior to joining Bamboo Capital Partners, Emanuele worked for 15 years at the World Bank and African Development Bank, where he pioneered new programs and instruments to support entrepreneurship and innovation, such as Souk Attanmia, the largest mobilization of partners to support social entrepreneurship in Tunisia in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, and Boost Africa, a blended finance vehicle enabling the market emergence of innovative forms of financing in the continent. He also founded Afrilanthropy a platform connecting African social enterprises with a wide variety of venture philanthropists, foundations, and impact funds. He holds a Ph.D. in Development Studies from the University of Trieste, an MA in Economics from the College of Europe in Bruges and a Harvard certificate in Public Financial Management.