Timbuktu Chronicles

WION on the role defence startups play in self - reliance:

From Design Indaba

AgriBusiness TV profiles ABC Grower:

David Mohale in conversation with Dheepak MaharajhDheepak Maharajh:

From UNIDO:

From Startuplist:A comprehensive overview and list of the top Food Processing Startups in Africa featuring startups like Juhayna, Zambeef Products, and others in over 25 African countries...[more]

Everyone aspires for good education, relevant skilling, and gainful employment. But, in a developing country with a large population and huge socioeconomic disparities, there are visible gaps between these three. Education, skilling, and employment are a continuum, and technology can enable smooth progression, fulfilment, and growth at every step. Around 180 million of India’s youth are expected to join the workforce in the next 15 years. However, current trends suggest that almost 33% of India’s working-age population are employment-unaware and 50% are unemployable. The skilling ecosystem, while it has made great progress in recent years, has inadequate focus on student mindset and behaviour, insufficient employer linkages, and hardly any post-training guidance...[more]

Plants have directly contributed to the development of important drugs. The antimalarial treatment artemisinin, pain medication morphine, and cancer chemotherapy taxol are just three examples of drugs derived from plants. Africa is endowed with up to 45,000 plant species – about 25% of the world’s plant genetic resources. More than 5,000 plant species from this enormous African resource are used in traditional medicines. Medicinal plant specialists Associate Professor Adeyemi Aremu and Professor Nox Makunga highlight some of these plants...[more]

Elgon Kenya and the University of Nairobi have signed a Memorandum of Understanding paving way for the construction of the Agricultural Technology and Innovation Centre (ATIC) at the College of Agriculture and Veterinary Services, Upper Kabete Campus in the capital city.

The ATIC will nurture and strengthen innovations in agriculture and entrepreneurship. The aim is to foster adoption of cutting edge innovations leading to job creation and product development resulting in a thriving agricultural sector for enhanced economic growth for the country. World over, agriculture technology incubation centres are becoming instrumental in translating scientific discoveries into products for economic development. “The venture is born out of the need to foster a culture of innovation, promote resource mobilization for development and commercialization of market-demanded products and services. At the same time, it will train and mentor innovators and entrepreneurs in order to increase chances of commercial success and to accelerate uptake of technology along the agricultural value chains,” said Prof Stephen Kiama, Vice Chancellor, and University of Nairobi...[more]

From Slow FoodThe color and the name of the Red Maasai Sheep represent the Maasai community and its identity. The Slow Food Presidium was created to protect the traditional breed and to involve more the Maasai youth and women.

via AllAfrica:Organi Limited is a value chain processor of provitamin-A rich, Orange Flesh Sweet Potato (OFSP) into various food products such as sweet potato composite bakery, confectionaries sweet potato puree and, now has ventured into sweet potato flakes production. The Company is based in Homabay County.

Charles Onyango-Obbo writes:At the edge of Gulu city in northern Uganda lies Gulu Country Dairy, founded by a youthful maverick veterinary doctor, Tonny Kidega.

Kidega is a unicorn of sorts; he is possibly the only Ugandan farmer who has consistently sold a litre of raw milk between Ush2,000 ($0.54) and Ush3,000 ($0.81). In other parts of the country, dairy farmers are making do with an average of Ush700 ($0.19)...[more]

The South African Chemical Technology Incubator is a not-for-profit business incubator, under the Small Enterprise Development Agency’s incubation program, that is dedicated to supporting the growth of very early stage technology-based businesses in the South African Chemical sector. Chemin provides clients with an exceptional entrepreneurial business environment that promotes collaboration, innovation and encourages ingenuity as well the creation of wealth.

Non-profit Tony Blair Institute (TBI)'s private sector development advisor, Kekeli Ahiable, tells Just Style why West Africa is one of the last frontiers for sustainable yet competitive garment manufacturing and how it can offer vertical integration along the value chain...[more]