Africa's young agrifood entrepreneurs took centre stage in Kigali as the GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize announced its 2026 winners at the closing ceremony of the Africa Food Systems Forum. Israel Smart Obidah, founder of Smartel Agri-tech in Nigeria, and Nabakka Sandra, co-founder of Sandi AI Technologies in Uganda, were named grand prize winners, each receiving a US$50,000 grant to grow and scale their businesses.

Smartel's Farm-in-a-Box combines hydroponics, IoT monitoring and AI crop diagnostics so smallholders can grow all year while using up to 90% less water and cutting input costs by up to 70%; since its commercial launch in 2024 it has deployed more than 7,000 systems. Sandi AI Technologies uses artificial intelligence and rural savings groups to help farmers obtain solar-powered irrigation without conventional loans or collateral, reaching 10,000 groups — more than 301,000 people — and facilitating over US$4 million of irrigation and farm technology.

Four Impact Awards recognised practical solutions: Jolis Nduwimana's Wege Company in Burundi, which turns banana and rice straw into reusable packaging with 15,200 supplying farmers; Josiane Mujawayezu's Amazing Insect in Rwanda, making organic fertiliser and insect-based feed with 96 cooperatives; Baba Djibo's Djibo Services in Mali, whose compost activator finishes compost in about 10 days instead of 45–90; and Olivia Okinyi's Econasi in Kenya, turning pineapple waste into plant-based leather with 500 growers, lifting their incomes by close to 40%.

Six Catalytic Awards went to Sincy Group Holdings (Kenya, 549,000 farmers served and US$720,000 in input credit), Foodeals (Morocco, surplus-food platform), ZTN (Ethiopia, solar edge-AI irrigation that cut water use 48% and raised yields 30% in pilots), Kilimora (Kenya, offline AI and climate finance for 1,500 cooperative operators, 60% women), B2C Agribusiness (Senegal, 35,000 farmers on its finance platform across three countries) and Smokeless Briqs (Nigeria, farm-waste cooking fuel for 25,000 users). The winners were judged on innovation, market potential and traction, social and environmental impact, business model and team.

'Africa's food systems transformation will ultimately be driven by businesses that can solve real problems at scale,' said AGRA president Alice Ruhweza. 'The opportunity now is to help businesses like these move from promising enterprises to companies that can operate on a scale. That requires capital, strong markets, the right partnerships and an enabling environment.' The prize is hosted under Generation Africa, AGRA's youth community, and brings mentorship, networks and access to investors; the 12 finalists came from Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal and Uganda.

Source: AGRA