Italian Trade Agency launches Italy-Ghana agribusiness digital lab

The Italian Trade Agency (ITA) today launched the Italy-Ghana Agribusiness Digital Lab project to bring together Italian and Ghanaian companies in the agribusiness sector to develop mutually beneficial business relationships.

The project will introduce Italian expertise and technology in the agribusiness value chain to the Ghanaian agribusiness market, with a focus on the following key areas: Agricultural Machinery and Mechanization; Logistics; Inputs and Agrochemicals; Irrigation; and Agro-Processing and Packaging. About 27 Italian companies with expertise in these areas will be presented to the Ghanaian market.

The project will also expose Ghanaian agribusiness entrepreneurs to Italian initiatives in agribusiness training and skills development.

The highlight of the project will be a series of virtual business-to-business (B2B) meetings to be held on June 22, 2021, between Italian agribusiness companies and their Ghanaian counterparts.

To facilitate the meetings, the ITA has established a portal, https://ghana-italy.digital.ice.it/, which offers detailed information on the participating Italian agribusiness companies and technologies, and where Ghanaian agro-related enterprises can register to participate in the virtual B2B meetings with the Italian companies.

“Italy is a global agribusiness industry leader and has a number of household names in the supply of agribusiness inputs, machinery, and technologies,” said Alessandro Gerbino, the ITA Director for West Africa. “The Digital Lab project therefore aims to connect these Italian companies with Ghanaian firms along the agribusiness value chain to facilitate commercial partnerships that will strengthen trade and investment between the two countries.”

The Digital Lab project is targeted at all Ghanaian enterprises operating along the agribusiness value chain, such as input suppliers, farmers/growers, agricultural trading companies, agro-processors, and retailers.

The Ghanaian entrepreneurs who participate in the B2B meetings will also be given the chance to compete for two scholarships for MBA in Impact Entrepreneurship and Innovation. The MBA is a degree programme offered by the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) and E4Impact Foundation,– Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Milan (Italy), starting in September 2021.

Italian Trade Agency is the governmental agency that supports the business development of Italian companies abroad and promotes the attraction of foreign investment in Italy.

With a motivated and modern organization and a widespread network of overseas offices, ITA provides information, assistance, consulting, promotion and training to Italian small and medium-sized businesses. Using the most modern multi-channel promotion and communication tools, it acts to assert the excellence of Made in Italy in the world.