By Abbas Nazil
At the 2025 African Conference on Agricultural Technology (ACAT) held in Kigali, Rwanda, African leaders, policymakers, and key stakeholders collectively called for an urgent scale-up of investments and technological adoption in agriculture to bolster food security across the continent.
The second day of the event was marked by high-level deliberations, with participants emphasizing the need for inclusive innovation, better infrastructure, and robust financing mechanisms aimed at empowering smallholder farmers—the backbone of Africa’s agricultural systems.
Rwanda’s Prime Minister, Dr. Édouard Ngirente, while delivering the keynote address, underscored the necessity of creating supportive ecosystems that go beyond just technology, urging for enabling policies, enhanced infrastructure, and improved access to finance.
He stressed the importance of listening to farmers, noting that their voices must shape the solutions being developed and promoted.
Dr. Ngirente called on all delegates to use the platform to forge actionable partnerships capable of translating ideas into meaningful impacts, particularly for rural farmers.
Former Nigerian President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, added his voice to the discourse, insisting that no single entity or country could bring about the needed transformation alone.
He emphasized the collective responsibility of African governments, private sector actors, civil society organizations, and farmers to work in unison.
Jonathan called for the strengthening of biosafety regulations, strategic investment in rural infrastructure, and agricultural budget alignment to attract investor confidence and achieve long-term agricultural sustainability.
A series of dynamic panel sessions followed, including “Financing AgTech Solutions: Aligning Capital, Risk, and Innovation,” where participants discussed ways to attract private sector capital, ensure youth engagement, and develop risk-sharing frameworks.
Hannington Namara, Managing Director of Equity Bank Rwanda, made a major announcement by pledging to allocate at least 30 percent of the bank’s loan portfolio to agriculture. He encouraged other financial institutions to adopt similar commitments.
Another session focused on breaking down institutional silos and promoting quality partnerships through aligned goals and shared responsibilities.
Participants agreed that sustainable partnerships must be built on mutual trust, common vision, and cooperative implementation.
A key ministerial dialogue featured representatives from six African countries—Rwanda, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Nigeria—who pledged to improve access to agricultural technology (AgTech), ensure gender mainstreaming in policy, and increase research funding.
Rwanda’s Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources, Dr. Mark Cyubahiro Bagabe, stressed the importance of centering smallholder farmers in all innovation and policy efforts, while Dr. Canisius Kanangire, Executive Director of the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), emphasized the urgency of translating research into practical solutions, famously stating, “It is not the seed in the field that feeds the nation; it is the seed in the soil.”
With a united resolve, delegates at ACAT 2025 reaffirmed their commitment to transforming agriculture into a more inclusive, resilient, and technology-driven sector capable of achieving food security for Africa’s growing population.
