Webinar Invitation: Responding to Covid-19 in Africa through youth-led digital solutions in agri-foods systems

1. Opening remarks: (5 minutes)

By the Moderator:

Ade Freeman,Regional Programme Leader,FAO/Regional Oce for Africa

2. Introductory Presentation: (10 Minutes)

Covid-19 and digital technologiesin Agri-Food Systems. How importantare they?

Dejan Jakovljevic, Director a.i., InformationTechnology Division (CIO), FAO

3. Discussants: (5-7 minutes each)

The panellists 

1. Brian Bosire, Founder & Chief Executive Ocer,UjuziKilimo (young agripreneurfrom Kenya)
2. Jennifer Okoduwa, Co-founder, Foodlocker(young agripreneur from Nigeria)
3. Lacina Koné, Director General/CEO,Smart Africa Secretariat
4. Rebecca Enonchong,Board Chairperson,Afrilabs
5. Edson Mpyisi, Chief Financial Economist. Coordinator-Enable Youth Programme- African Development Bank Group

4. Questions and Answers: (25 Minutes)

Moderated by

Ade Freeman,Regional Programme Leader,FAO/Regional Office for Africa

5. Closing remarks: (5 Minutes)

Dickson Mbando Naftali,Head of Generation Africa

Speaker Name & Affiliation

Biography

Dejan Jakovljevic

Director a.i., Information Technology Division (CIO)

Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO

Dejan Jakovljevic is the Deputy Director of IT Division of the Food andAgriculture Organization of the United Nations, based in Rome, Italy.

Mr. Jakovljevic has more than two decades of experience focusing on strategicaspects of IT, driving organizational modernization and transformation in theInternational Development domain.

He is passionate about bringing digital capabilities and innovation intoaccelerating impact in support of Sustainable Development Goals.His previous experience includes IT leadership roles in South East Asia andEuropean Region, with UNICEF and WHO.

Brian Bosire

Founder & Chief Executive Officer

UjuziKilimo

Brian Bosire is a Kenyan technology entrepreneur with focus on usingemerging digital technologies in precision agriculture and access to water. Heis the founder and CEO of HydroIQ and UjuziKilimo. UjuziKilimo is a technologycompany that collects & analyzes farm data using sensors, and Data scienceto provide actionable insights to farmers and the agriculture industry acrossAfrica.

Brian is a United Nations Young leader for SDGs, and has received numerousglobal awards & recognitions for his advocacy for sustainable food productionusing technology in Africa including Pioneer in Agritech by Forbes, AmericanSociety for Mechanical Engineers (ASME), Global leader in Digital Capacitydevelopment by International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Leaders inInnovation (LIF-2018) Fellow by Royal academy of engineering, the KingHamad Prosperity Award for SDGs, and he serves in the World Bank YouthAdvisory Group on solutions for youth employment.“UjuziKilimo” means “Smart farming” in Swahili 

Jennifer Okoduwa

Co-Founder & Chief Marketing Officer

Foodlocker Africa

Jennifer Okoduwa is the Co-founder/ Chief Marketing Officer for Foodlocker Africa, an agritech startup in Nigeria, founded in December, 2017. She has several years of experience in marketing where she has run marketing activation campaigns for multinational companies (FMCG) across Nigeria. She also has experience in retail from the work with Bunnings warehouse in the UK. Foodlocker is her second startup as she co-founded a tech startup back in 2014.

Jennifer is a First-Class Graduate of the University of Lagos and a Master’s degree holder from the same University. She went further to earn a Certificate in Entrepreneurial Management from the Enterprise Development Centre of the Pan Atlantic University / Lagos Business School. Also, she obtained a certificate on investment readiness organised by CTA in partnership with Greentec Capital during AGRF/ Pitch Agrihack 2019.

Jennifer was an award winner for the Data Analytics prize during the Pitch Agrihack 2019. Also, her startup was selected for the Impulse/ Mass challenge Accelerator programme, and also Founders Factory Africa Venture scaling programme, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Jennifer resides in Ibadan, Nigeria. She is currently working on 2 huge projects: expansion of the business across Nigeria and on several growth hacking schemes, including Foodlocker Ambassador Programme and Foodlocker Prime.

Lacina Koné

Director General/Chief Executive Officer

Smart Africa Secretariat

Mr. Lacina Koné, Director General of Smart Africa since March 2019. He is a professional of ICT industry with over 25 years’ experience in the telecommunications, satellite and intelligent transport system. Mr. Kone is a graduate of three continents. United Arab Emirates, he obtained a bachelor's degree in electronic engineering. In the UK, it has validated its Polytechnique rank with a master’s degree in data communication systems from the University of Brunel, and the United States, his MBA from George Washington University.

Rebecca Enonchong

Board Chairperson

Afrilabs

Rebecca Enonchong is founder and Chief Executive Officer of AppsTech, a leading global provider of enterprise application solutions. She is cofounder of I/O Spaces, a shared workspace in the Washington DC area for African diaspora entrepreneurs.

She is Board Chair of ActivSpaces (African Center for Technology Innovation and Ventures) in Cameroon and Board Chair of Afrilabs, a network of over 200 hubs in 45 African countries. She is cofounder and board member of Cameroon Angels Network and African Business Angels Network (ABAN) also sits on the board of several other companies and organizations.

Named as one of Africa’s 50 Most Powerful Women by Forbes Africa, she is best known as @africatechie on Twitter where she has over 100k followers.

Edson Mpyisi 

Chief Financial EconomistCoordinator – Enable Youth Program

African Development Bank Group

Edson Mpyisi is the Coordinator of the ENABLE Youth Program at the African Development Bank (AfDB). The objective of Enable Youth is to empower youth as agripreneurs by providing them with agronomic training along the value chain, business training, incubation through mentorship and facilitating access to finance for youth-led agribusiness enterprises.

Mr. Mpyisi has over 20 years of experience in Economic and Agriculture Development with extensive policy, research, management and investment experience on key strategic and emerging issues facing Africa.Prior to joining the AfDB, Mr. Mpyisi was the Head of Division of Agriculture and Food Security at the African Union Commission (2005-2009) where he spearheaded the development, coordination and implementation of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP).

Prior to that, Mr. Mpyisi worked with Michigan State University as the Country Coordinator of the Food Security Research Project (FSRP) in Rwanda and as the Rwanda Country Representative for USAID’s Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWSNet).