Madam Unami Mpofo, Senior Programme Officer, Skills and Employment for Youth, Africa Union Development Agency (AUDA- NEPAD) has urged participants of Ignite 2020 not to down play the size of their businesses.
“Your team may be five or less, but with perseverance, consistency and hard work you will be able to grow into a bigger business organization,” she said.
She said this at a virtual launch of “Ignite 2020” an annual training workshop organized by Guzakuza, a social enterprise set to empower young women in Agribusiness with adequate technical know-how, gain market access and mentorship to scale up their agribusiness.
This year’s section is on the theme; “Amplifying her AgVoice”.
She advised women to build a stronger network to be able to access the market and be a voice for the women in agribusiness across Africa as a well-organized business front would help showcase their businesses to the world.
She also advised them to demonstrate good leadership skills, influence and impact as agriprenuers
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Madam Yvonne Agbetsoamedo, Senior Lecturer, Department of Linguistics, University of Ghana and Founder Imani Organic farms speaking of her experience as a participant said she benefited immensely from the sessions that had added unto her knowledge on getting goals for her business.
She said, she learnt amongst other things, how to set SMART goals that should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.
Nana Adjoa Sifa Amponsah, Initiator, Guzakuza said Ignite was a brain child of the Guzakuza team established in 2015 to touch lives by growing women Agripreneurs, a new generation of graduate and wealthy farmers and growing healthy organic foods.
“We use Agriculture and entrepreneurship to create mindset change in the society,” she said.
She said the name Guzakuza came about during a concept transformation session in kanthari, India derived from two Swahili words, Guza (touch) and kuza (grow).
She said since 2016, Ignite had grown from numbers less than 20 to 120 participants in this year’s workshop.
Additionally she said the team had created so far thought provoking workshops by some of the continent’s finest business coaches and facilitators empowered young women agriprenuers to prosper in their businesses.
She extended her appreciation to sponsors and stakeholders of this year’s event and most importantly participants of this year’s ignite.
