TICAD7: Digital agriculture a catalyst for Africa’s economy – Stakeholders
The 7th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) held in Japan, had agricultural stakeholders who have described the practice of digital Agriculture in nations as a key catalyst for Africa’s economy.
This was made known in a seminar at the conference, tagged:“The digital Africa 2020 and Japanese investment panel: Creating markets to digitize Africa,” jointly organized by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the African Development Bank.
The group agreed that prioritizing the digital space will help shift the development focus for Africa’s agribusiness sector and overcome its many hurdles.
In his opening remarks, President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina elaborated on how digital technology has changed the face of agriculture in Africa, saying that it has had a massive influence on smallholder farmers.
The Director of the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation, Michael Hailu, added that digital technology is a prerequisite to advancing agriculture on the continent.
Haliu said “without transforming agriculture you cannot envisage development.”
Also in his remarks, the Regional Vice President for Middle East Africa for IFC, Sergio Pimenta, said the digital revolution would help unlock the vast potential of agriculture value chains.
AfDB’s Director for Agricultural Finance, Atsuko Toda, called on Japanese investors’ to begin with African countries which already offer promising investment opportunities.
Notable examples of digital technology delivering results for Africa’s agriculture were also showcased, including Nigerian venture Kobo360 founded by Obi Ozor, which offers an app that connects truckers and companies to delivery services.
Ozor, said that the inspiration for his venture stemmed from the lack of data on delivery services, said “We found that banks are not lending digitally or with data,”
Vice President of the AfDB on Agriculture, Human, and Social Development, Jennifer Blanke, described the task of harnessing digital technologies for agriculture as exciting and urged participants to see agriculture is a business not “just a way of life.”
