Crenov8 Consulting on October 10th held its Agro conference; Meet The Farmers Conference Nigeria. The conference which took place at the Grand Ball Room, Intercontinental Hotel, Lagos and aims to connect small and large scale Agro commodity producers in Nigeria to buyers and investors in the Middle East. It also meant to establish and strengthening the international trade ties that exist between Nigeria and the GCC through agriculture.
The conference began with ribbon cutting by the Chairman, Board of Directors Tetrazzini Agro-Allied, Dr. Prince Donatus Ikechukwu Okonkwo and was followed by many top profile keynote addresses and knowledge sharing session.
The 2017 edition of the conference was held at the Waldorf Astoria in Palm Jumeirah Dubai in Nov 21 and 22 last year. Last year’s conference received high governmental and political recognition and was moderated by H.E. Juma Al Kait, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy Dubai, and underwritten by the CEO of Hamriyah Free Zone Authority; the largest free zone in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) H.E. Saud Salim.
While speaking at the conference, Bola Oyedele of Crenov8 said that “MTFC was borne out of a research that showed that the UAE imports $100billion of Agro produce every year of which Nigeria countries have no or little percentage in it, despite having vast resources that could easily support that.”
“The conference was birthed out of the need to consolidate and export Nigeria Agro produce to the GCC region, which we believe will amass Nigeria foreign exchange, improve GDP per capita, reduce food waste and improve on the existent ties between the GCC and Africa to mention a few advantages.”
“Kenya, Ghana and Rwanda have benefitted immensely from the first conference we held in Dubai in 2017 and we have set up warehouses and business links for many agribusinesses in the UAE.” She concluded.
The conference discussion focused on “The Future of Agribusiness” and it was well analysed by experts in the Agric and Value chain sector in Nigeria both from public and Private.
Speakers at the conference include: Representatives of the Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh, President, Iyalode Alaba Lawson, President NACCIMA, Segun Awolowo from NEPC, Emmanuel Ijewere, Vice President National AgriBusiness Group, Onyeka Akumah, Babatunde Ruwase, Abubakar Bello, and other renowned Agric stakeholders in Nigeria.
As part of that initiative, the organisers also supported AgriTechnology Entrepreneurship in Nigeria with a new concept titled “Innov8 Agric Challenge” which is looking to promote innovative ideas and enterprises that focus on agriculture and help them improve their business operations while providing a platform to showcase their innovation. Same challenge has held in Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda and then Nigeria with all going onto to pitch at the Grand Finale in Dubai. More on www.techgistafrica.com/innov8agric.
As an incentive, winners from each regional conference will later battle for the chance to win USD 5,000 and will be given the opportunity to exhibit at the MTFC Finale, as well as gain access to other business opportunities. The Innov8Agric competition was held and Smart Farms emerged winner after defeating three other Agri-tech start-ups – AgroMerchant, Crop2Cash, and FoodHubs also participated in the pitch.
This year alone, Crenov8 has held editions of the Conference in Ghana on July 4, Kenya on September 21, 2018, and another one in Rwanda on October 5. The grand finale of this conference is expected the “H” Hotel Dubai on 4th and 5th of November.
See photos from MTFC Nigeria conference here!
More on the Innov8Agric Challenge:
- Ghanaian Agric Startup, Qualitrace Wins Ghana Innov8Agric Challenge
- Spiderbit Wins Innov8Agric Challenge, Rwanda
- Smart Farms Wins Nigeria Innov8Agric Challenge, to Compete with Other Start-ups for $5,000
- Google Chrome 70 to Block Sites with Old Certificates
- Kenyan Agric-Tech Start-up, AgriQ & Automations Wins Kenya Innov8Agric Challenge
