BTA Admin Agriculture, not raw mineral exports, will drive Africa’s next wave of wealth creation, Agricwealth CEO Evans Kyere-Mensah says at AATIS Ohio 2026.
The Chief Executive Officer of Agricwealth, Evans Kyere-Mensah, has called on Africans in the diaspora and global investors to increase investment in Africa’s agriculture sector, arguing that the continent’s long-term economic transformation will depend heavily on food production, agro-processing, and agricultural trade.
Speaking at the just-ended two-day Africa Agriculture, Trade, and Investment Summit (AATIS Ohio 2026) in Columbus, Ohio, Mr Kyere-Mensah described agriculture as one of Africa’s most underutilised economic opportunities and urged investors to position themselves early in the sector’s future growth.
The summit brought together business leaders, policymakers, investors, and entrepreneurs to explore opportunities in agriculture, trade, infrastructure, finance, forestry, manufacturing, and economic development across Africa.
This year’s summit was held under the theme: “Driving Economic Transformation Through Agriculture, Trade and Strategic Investment.”
According to Mr Kyere-Mensah, Africa’s growing population, expanding food demand, and increasing global supply chain pressures make agriculture one of the continent’s most strategic investment sectors over the coming decades.
“By the year 2050, the world population is expected to reach about 11 billion people, and we must begin investing in agriculture today,” he said.
He stressed that Africa’s future prosperity would increasingly depend not only on extracting natural resources but also on building value chains around agriculture and manufacturing.
“The next generation of African wealth will not be created solely from what lies beneath our soil,” he stated. “It will be created from what we grow on it, what we manufacture from it, and how effectively we bring it to market.”
Mr Kyere-Mensah noted that the summit was designed to move beyond conversations and create practical investment partnerships capable of delivering measurable economic impact across African economies.
“AATIS was established to create a platform where conversations become partnerships, partnerships become investments, and investments create measurable impact,” he said.
He added that the event reflects growing global recognition that Africa’s agricultural sector could become a major driver of employment, industrialisation, food security, export growth, and intra-African trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Industry analysts increasingly view agriculture as one of Africa’s most important long-term growth sectors, particularly as governments seek to reduce food imports, strengthen local manufacturing, and improve value addition across supply chains.
Despite possessing roughly 60 per cent of the world’s uncultivated arable land, Africa continues to face major gaps in agricultural financing, infrastructure, irrigation systems, storage facilities, logistics, and processing capacity.
Diaspora investment, experts say, could play a critical role in helping bridge some of these funding and knowledge gaps while accelerating technology transfer and agribusiness innovation across the continent.
For many participants at the summit, the broader message was clear: Africa’s next major economic opportunity may not lie underground, but in its farms, food systems, and agricultural industries.
