Leading agricultural technology company, ThriveAgric, has concluded the debut edition of the ‘Abuja Tech Converge – TechXcelerate’ conference held in partnership with OCP Africa, a subsidiary of OCP Group, championing sustainable farming in Africa.
The 2-day event which brought together some of Nigeria’s most influential players in technology had Akintunde Akinwande; Head, Business Development & Digital Projects for Nigeria, OCP Africa, Oluwatomi Ayorinde; CEO, Payforce by FairMoney & Cynthia E. Chisom; VP, Ecosystem & Venture Labs, Spark Africa HQ speak on an engaging panel on the need for collaboration in the ecosystem.
Uka Eje, CEO of ThriveAgric and conveners of the Abuja Tech Converge said, “… We want to make the sector more attractive and champion a different system of collaborative agriculture that actively embraces different groups of people – rural and urban youths, technology enthusiasts and innovators, local investors, regulators and all levels of government so we can build the country of our dreams.”
Also in attendance was Senator Isa Yuguda, former governor of Bauchi State who gave the keynote address. Yuguda called on the government to channel more investment into the agriculture sector in areas like technology and infrastructure to address the problem of food insecurity and hunger.
The conference also unveiled the first set of graduating interns in ThriveAgric’s Tech-Talent Accelerated Programme (TAP) and techathon sponsored by OCP Africa. A cash prize of two million naira was awarded to a group of 4 interns who designed a healthcare solution. The runner up groups received a million naira and 500,000 naira each for building a recruitment solution and a customised learning solution.
With over 4000 applications received for the six-month programme, only 20 candidates were admitted. Other winners from this year’s TAP cohort were Aneminyene John-Prince, Caleb Owatah and Caleb Ali, who emerged overall best students winning N500,000, N300,000 and 200,000 naira respectively.
