The 2 day Agriculture Investment Summit 2015 organized by Welcome 2 Africa has ended at the World Trade Center in Accra. The event which was held on the 17th and 18th of November, 2015 was under the theme, ‘The Agribusiness growth story: Changing Landscapes or Rethinking African Agricultural Sector: Challenging the status quo.’
According to Miss Bamidele, Chief Executive Officer of Welcome to Africa, the main aim of the summit was to create awareness to the investment opportunities available in African agriculture. She said the targets were all those who participate in the value chain of agricultural production from agribusinesses, agro processors, investors as well as marketers and even consumers. It was all about how to mobilize the transformation of African agriculture.
High level investors from around the continent and the world, entrepreneurs, students from the various tertiary institutions across the country as well as some local farmers, were present at the summit.
A number of seasoned speakers including Mr. Augustine Adongo, team leader of the Market Development, MADE, Robert Dowuona Owoo, Deputy Project Director of GCX, Kwadjo Amaniampong, Chief Executive Officer of AMASS ROYAL COMPANY among several others, made presentations on agricultural investment opportunities across the continent.
The summit also enjoyed tailor measured presentations from seasoned investors including Mr. Simon Glossop of CAMSCORP who made the emphatic point that no investor was prepared to put his money where returns were not assured while admitting that loads of business opportunities abounded in the agribusiness sector.
The common denominator was however to the effect that several opportunities abound in the agricultural sector and it was high time we moved from agriculture to real agribusiness. Also of mention was the fact that that investment in the country was an opportunity for individual agribusiness minded people and the private sector to pursue rather than always depending on government grants.
In addition, the point that Africans have to look down upon agriculture but regard it as a way of life was identified as crucial to agricultural development.
Miss Bamidele lamented about the fact that not much sponsorship came in for a massive awareness for the event but she was not disappointed because according to her, ‘it was about the quality of the summit and not necessarily the quantity.’
She was content with the seasoned speakers, the fact that revelations were made about the businesses available in the agribusiness industry, and the fact that agribusinesses from Africa and several stakeholders in the sector were attracted to the event.
Source: ritefmonline.org
