{"id":136215,"date":"2026-03-31T15:02:47","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T15:02:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/20-firms-selected-for-auda-nepad-2026-agribusiness-accelerator-program\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T15:02:47","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T15:02:47","slug":"20-firms-selected-for-auda-nepad-2026-agribusiness-accelerator-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/20-firms-selected-for-auda-nepad-2026-agribusiness-accelerator-program\/","title":{"rendered":"20 firms selected for AUDA-NEPAD 2026 agribusiness accelerator program"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Twenty agribusinesses have been selected to join the Home-Grown Solutions Agribusiness Accelerator (HGSA-A) program.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The selected firms, drawn from nine COMESA countries, will receive tailored advisory services, investment-readiness support, fundraising guidance, and mentorship, alongside assistance to access cross-border markets under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).<\/p>\n<p>The initiative, commissioned by the African Union Development Agency\u2013New Partnership for Africa\u2019s Development (AUDA-NEPAD) and supported by the New Zealand government, seeks to help companies scale their locally driven innovations while addressing Africa\u2019s urgent agricultural challenges.<\/p>\n<p>During their participation, the companies are expected to deliver measurable impact by creating jobs and expanding their reach among smallholder farmers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe HGSA-A pilot cohort brings together twenty growth-stage agribusinesses from nine COMESA countries, selected for their potential to improve productivity, reduce post-harvest losses, enhance value addition, and expand market access, while advancing climate-smart practices and the participation of women- and youth-led enterprises across African food systems,\u201d reads a statement from AUDA-NEPAD.<\/p>\n<p>In Kenya, four companies in agri-processing and clean energy have been selected.<\/p>\n<p>They include Nyota Limited, which processes indigenous foods into frozen and shelf-stable products; BioAfriq Energy, which develops solar drying hubs for smallholder farmers; Kirima Fresh Dairies, which produces milk, cheese, and yogurt; and Wedgehut Foods, which sources and processes fresh potatoes for institutional markets.<\/p>\n<p>Three Zambian companies, Stewards Globe Limited\/Afriseed, Kagezi Seed Company, and Forest Africa Zambia Limited, are also among those selected, focusing on climate-resilient seeds and value-added processing of indigenous fruits.<\/p>\n\n<p>In the Democratic Republic of Congo, four firms are participating, including Berakah, which uses solar-powered processing, and Majirane Coffee, which exports organic Arabica coffee while promoting women\u2019s economic empowerment.<\/p>\n<p>In Uganda, Equator Seeds operates integrated seed-to-export coffee systems, while Drought Guard Africa delivers solar-powered irrigation solutions, impacting more than 120,000 smallholder farmers.<\/p>\n<p>Other participants come from Somalia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Tunisia, Burundi, and Madagascar.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kbc.co.ke\/20-firms-selected-for-auda-nepad-2026-agribusiness-accelerator-program\/\">20 firms selected for AUDA-NEPAD 2026 agribusiness accelerator program<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kbc.co.ke\/\">KBC Digital<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Twenty agribusinesses have been selected to join the Home-Grown Solutions Agribusiness Accelerator (HGSA-A) program. The selected firms, drawn from nine COMESA countries, will receive tailored advisory services, investment-readiness support, fundraising guidance, and mentorship, alongside assistance to access cross-border markets under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The initiative, commissioned by the African Union Development [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-136215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136215\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}