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The Executive Director of Kosmos Innovation Centre, Benjamin Gyan-Kesse has disclosed that the future of Africa’s prosperity is in Technology and in Agribusiness.

He said, the hope of the agricultural sector in Ghana and the power of technology and young people’s participation in agriculture is to address issues related to production, productivity, value chains, distribution, storage, agric-processing and value addition.

According to him,young people are driving change through technology to address challenges such as climate change and food security.

Speaking in an interview with Peace FM news at the AgricTech Challenge Classic Final Competition held in Accra, he said, The AgriTech Challenge Classic is in its second year, when it comes to supporting students and young graduates, to develop innovative AgriTech solutions for the sector.

He noted that the program seeks to unearth the entrepreneurial potential of young people in the tertiary institutions and set them on a journey towards social transformation.

He explained that, Kosmos Innovation Centre is committed to providing this transformational change journey for young people to create job opportunities within the agricultural sector in the country.

The AgriTech Challenge Classic is not just a competition; it is a celebration of the audacity to dream, the courage to innovate, and the commitment to a better, more sustainable future. We are proud of the growth journey of each of the teams," he said.

Benjamin Gyan-Kesse acknowledge Mastercard Foundation for the multi-year partnership that has enabled us scale-up to 5 universities for last year, and to 5 additional universities for this year’s competition.

Next year, through the partnership, KIC is looking to expand to 5 more universities to make the program accessible to students from across the countries.

In all, Ten Tertiary institutions were selected from ten regions of Ghana in order to select twenty (20) winning business teams, which will be supported through mentorship, coaching and be ready to scale-up.

At the end of this competition, twenty teams will be selected to move onto the AgriTech Challenge Pro, which is a scale-up program, business coaching and investor readiness program. Each team will receive USD2,000, and will join 20 other teams that have been newly accepted into the AgriTech Challenge Pro.

The Board Chair of Kosmos Innovation Centre, Joe Mensah on his part underscored agriculture as a necessity wth a growing global population, changing climate patterns, and evolving consumer demands, and their ability to adapt and innovate within the agricultural sector is paramount.

He said, the AgriTech Challenge Classic stands as a testament to their collective commitment to addressing these challenges head-on.