Barclays in partnership to grow Agri-preneurship

Barclays Africa has partnered with Techno Serve to implement the African Young Agripreneurs Program (AYAP), a technical and business skills development programme, focusing on youth operating businesses in the Agriculture Value Chains.

Speaking in Nyeri, while touring Agri-prenuers farms, Techno Serve Business Advisor Cyprian Amakalu said the aim of the visit is to stimulate potential amongst young agribusiness start- ups and accelerate their growth.

“We have identified 45 youths from six counties, which include Nyeri, Kirinyaga, Bomet, Kajiado, Embu, Kiambu, and Bomet,” Amakalu said.

Barclays Marketing and Corporate Relations Director Caroline Ndung’u noted that the interest in Agriculture picked up by the youth formed a good opportunity for the bank to partner with Technoserve in a bid to boost their industry capacity.

“We have seen a growing interest in the youth taking up agriculture, and in line with our key Citizenship pillars of offering financial literacy, enterprise and employability skills to them, we aim to help them become more competitive business owners,” said Ms. Ndung’u.

After working with thousands of young people on the continent on enterprise development, Techno Serve noted incredible stories of young entrepreneurs turning agricultural challenges into opportunities.

The Boot Camp cum-farm visits brought together 45 entrepreneurs who have been in business between 3 -10 years with very high potential for scale up both in revenues and youth employment.

The entrepreneurs are engaged in diverse agribusinesses; processing and value addition such as yoghurt, stevia, strawberry, mushrooms, vegetables, poultry, baking, juice processing and agrochemicals among others.

During the Boot Camp, the participants are exposed to knowledge on industry touch points such as Business Structuring, Value Addition and Innovations,   Product Branding,   Export Marketing, Tax Compliance, Certification, Legal Requirements and IT in Agriculture.

The Boot Camp is part of the Bank’s strategy to penetrate the Agribusiness space in the market, with their expertise in Horticulture among other facilities.