AgriBridge Trade Webinar

Invitation to the AgriBridge Trade Webinar

AKADEMIYA2063 and Welthungerhilfe (WHH), through the AgriBridge African-German Policy Network, are convening a webinar on unlocking Africa’s agricultural trade potential and partnerships.

Amid geopolitical disruptions such as the recent war in the Middle East and the Gulf and its potential to disrupt global fertilizer supplies while driving up food prices, we invite you to our upcoming webinar to explore new opportunities for strengthening the resilience of African agricultural trade. 

The event will bring together researchers, policymakers, development partners, and practitioners to enable exchange on how trade policy choices, regional integration efforts, and partnerships, including with Europe, can be better aligned to strengthen Africa’s agrifood trade performance, while supporting food security, resilience, and inclusive economic growth. 

Drawing on evidence from the 2025 Africa Agriculture Trade Monitor (AATM) and insights from AgriBridge Policy Note #1, the webinar aims to: 

• Provide an overview of recent trends in African agricultural trade flows, including intra- vs extra-African trade patterns and key value chains. 
• Discuss the AfCFTA's role, tariff/non-tariff barriers, standards harmonization, and trade facilitation in unlocking regional markets.
• Focus on Africa-Europe agricultural trade opportunities, including opportunities for mutually beneficial partnerships, standards compliance challenges, and aligning development with trade goals.
• Highlight policy and investment strategies that support value addition, agribusiness growth, SME participation, and climate-smart competitiveness.

Concept Note

Speakers

Welcome & Opening: Dr. Rafaël Schneider, Deputy Director – Policy & External Relations, Welthungerhilfe (WHH)

• Prof. Christian Henning, Chief Scientist – AKADEMIYA2063
• Mr. Bosco Gumisiriza, Director – Partnership, Compliance and Operations, African Agribusiness Incubators Network (AAIN), and Member, AgriBridge
• Ms. Maja-Catrin Riecher, Policy Advisor Food Security & Agriculture, Welthungerhilfe (WHH)
• Dr. Mahamadou Tankari, Deputy Director; Head, Policy Modeling Unit – AKADEMIYA2063
• Mr. Mathews Wanjala, Regional Expert – Market Systems, TradeMark Africa
• Dr. Diana Akullo Ogwal, Principal Officer – Directorate of Trade in Goods and Competition, African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat
• Ms. Federica Angelucci, Senior Agribusiness Expert – Sustainable and Inclusive Trade, International Trade Centre (ITC)  

Moderator: Dr. Sylvester Dickson Baguma, Executive Director –  Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA), and Member, AgriBridge 

Closing: Dr. Debisi Araba, Managing Director, AKADEMIYA2063 

Welthungerhilfe (WHH) is one of the largest non-governmental development and humanitarian aid organizations in Germany, working towards “Zero Hunger by 2030”.

AKADEMIYA2063 is a pan-African non-profit research organization that provides data, policy analysis, and capacity support to help African countries achieve the African Union’s Agenda 2063 goals.