Turning the Tide for Entrepreneurs on the Continent

By Ruksana Hussain (@ruksanah)

When African Food Changemakers (AFC) was established as a nonprofit in Nigeria with the goal of nourishing Africa and changing global narratives about African food, founder and executive chair Ndidi Nwuneli had a clear purpose—to build a community of collaboration for entrepreneurial success. This also included ensuring this purpose didn’t just echo across the continent but resounded globally, announcing that Africa is ready for business and African food can nourish the world.

With more than 15 years of experience working in food and agriculture, Nwuneli experienced the struggle to scale through her own businesses. When identifying the problems, which she captured in her book, “Food Entrepreneurs in Africa: Scaling Resilient Agriculture Businesses,” she found the same issue everywhere; entrepreneurs felt isolated and didn’t have collaborators for support. They needed assistance with funding, knowledge, training and navigating the entrepreneurship journey. AFC was created in 2022 to do just that, combining two organizations—Nourishing Africa and Changing Narratives Africa—with similar goals Nwuneli had previously established.

“Our vision from the onset was a million entrepreneurs from Africa that are successful locally and globally. We are creating a community of dynamic and successful agri/food entrepreneurs and amplifying their voices,” says Nwuneli.

AFC assists food and agriculture entrepreneurs across Africa in building resilient and sustainable businesses by providing training, support, access to funding and markets and increasing their visibility and impact. Members are from 37 African countries, including 2,500 active businesses on the portal, 15,000+ entrepreneurs receiving training and more than 150,000 others receiving resources weekly.

Sustainability training programs include Building Resilience Against Climate and Environmental Shocks (BRACE), Scaling Export Program (SEP), Youth in Agrifood Export Development Program (YAEDP) and the Leading African Women in Food Fellowship (LAWFF). AFC also produces Narrative Changers food spotlights and podcast episodes on ingredients such as rooibos, okra, teff, coffee and cacao, curates events such as the Harvard Food Festival and released a short documentary on jollof rice to build awareness about Africa’s contributions to the global food ecosystem.

“Our impact will be limited if we only focus on building the capacity of the entrepreneurs and enhancing their business operations without driving the demand for their products and services, hence our focus on changing narratives. We are committed to changing the face of Africa from a hungry child to a successful female entrepreneur and ensuring global appreciation and recognition for high quality and nutritious products sourced from diverse countries— Ghanian chocolates, Ethiopian teff, South African rooibos and Nigerian cashews,” says Nwuneli.

That need to change perceptions about African brands and food is confirmed by Claudia Castellanos, CEO of Eswatini-based Black Mamba Chilli, who launched her specialty foods business—a sustainable African brand making award-winning hot sauces with quality products and strong social and environmental ethos—in 2010.

“People think they must help poor Africa with a pity purchase which I’ve always found horrible. We are a very proud country and continent that has much to offer,” says Castellanos, one of AFC’s first cheerleaders.

Originally from Colombia, she left a corporate job in Italy to volunteer in Eswatini and worked with social and handicraft businesses. She loved the business model, which was inclusive of rural communities and women. She also met her now husband during that time.

“We talked about replicating the business model of the handicraft world I knew, and he wanted to do something with chilies because he is a hot sauce fanatic,” she shares.

Castellanos works with 100 small ingredient growers in partnership with local NGO Guba, which teaches rural communities to grow produce organically through permaculture, a core Black Mamba principle.

“We are teachers and trainers for farmers and their market access. They grow organically, we get organic ingredients, they get an income, and they get to teach other community members how to grow organically through regenerative agriculture methods, so it becomes a win-win situation for them, the planet and for us,” she says.

Her association with AFC took off around the start of COVID. Castellanos found access to resources, grants, and programs related to food and women in agribusiness. Her participation on the platform earned her an ambassadorship which translated to more involvement.

Similar sentiments are expressed by Adanne Uche, the owner of Ady’s Agro Processing Limited, a food processing and packaging company in Lagos, Nigeria, that provides healthier cooking ingredients, seasonal blends, spices, palm oil and honey.

“I educate people about food deficiencies and to read the food labels for the ingredients that they cook with, so we are a business that focuses on United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. To impact people to make good food decisions is something I am proud of. With the local farmers I partner with, I give them information on how they should improve seedlings, the right agriculture practices,” says Uche, who happened to chance upon AFC’s work via social media and realized this is the community she needed.

Her business started as Ady’s Food Mart in 2016 to help families shop for groceries. Uche observed that Nigerian open markets were plagued by unhealthy food practices and food adulteration, so she offers products that are processed hygienically, with no monosodium glutamate (MSG), preservatives, additives or coloring and uses only spices and vegetables for the seasoning blends.

Uche admits the entrepreneurial world can get lonely, so a community of like-minded entrepreneurs via AFC has not only presented her with others to partner with for business but also opportunities to speak about her journey and mentor women and youth, inspiring them even as she pursues success with her venture.

“Let’s amplify these voices so that the rest of the world knows we are ready for business. Let’s ensure that the food ecosystem is transformed and that Africa feeds itself and the world,” says Nwuneli. “Communications, partnerships and amplifying voices are critical for the transformation required. I am focused on grooming the next set of leaders who scale the work that we have started and continue to change narratives.”

Learn more about African Food Changemakers’ work and how to join at afchub.org and connect at @africanfoodchangemakers.