Africa

Women make up more than half of IFAD’s project participants, while over 60 percent of its active project portfolio is youth-sensitive, reaching more than 12 million young people globally. Photo: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

By Joyce Chimbi
NAIROBI, Feb 11 2026 (IPS)

The global aid system is crumbling amidst chronic underinvestment in rural areas, posing a systemic threat to food systems everywhere.

With 1.3 billion young people in the world today – the largest generation in history, and nearly half of them living in rural areas – investing in their entrepreneurial potential is key.

Speaking during a press briefing on February 10, 2026, at the International Fund for Agricultural Development‘s (IFAD) 49th Governing Council, the president, Alvaro Lario, said investing in young entrepreneurs and women farmers unlocks new pathways for employment and ensures that rural areas become thriving engines of stability, prosperity and sustainable growth.

The overarching theme of the ongoing session of the Governing Council is “From Farm to Market: Investing with Young Entrepreneurs” and is being held at a pivotal moment when the global aid system is in urgent need of reinvention.

“We are at a very complex time of geopolitical fragmentation and constrained budgets for many countries. Food systems are going through various regular shocks that include climate shocks. So, rural transformation means economic growth, creating jobs and building stability,” Lario stated.

Lario advocated for public-private partnerships that connect farmers with private companies, which invest directly in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) through blended finance, guarantees, and various forms of debt or equity, ultimately increasing access to rural finance. Public finance alone cannot deliver the transformation of food systems, raise rural incomes, or create decent jobs.

IFAD’s president, Alvaro Lario, with Tony Elumelu, chairman of UBA, and Heirs Holdings and founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation. Credit: IFAD/Hannah Kathryn Valles

SME-driven value chains are critical to rural development. IFAD’s assessments show that SME-focused value chain projects are more likely to deliver transformational impacts – in other words, where incomes increase by more than 50 per cent because of the project. The Project for Rural Income through Exports in Rwanda (PRICE) increased returns to farmers through the development of export-driven value chains for coffee, tea, silk farming and horticulture.

In brief, he said the private sector accounts for more than 90 per cent of global food systems’ activity and that it complements public sector financing in a critical way by providing technology, market access, and logistics. Emphasising that these are the elements that allow small farms, pastoralists, fishers, rural entrepreneurs and other agri-food enterprises to grow and prosper.

Overall, at the Governing Council, Lario underscored the immense strategic and business value of investing in rural economies, presented new impact data and priorities for 2028-2030 and outlined the most effective models for scaling up productive investments. He was joined by Tony Elumelu, Chair of United Bank for Africa and Heirs Holdings, and founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, in outlining a new deal for rural economies.

They spoke at length about how to accelerate the shift to channel more private investments to rural economies. On young African entrepreneurs and facilitating their access to financing, he said as currently constituted, a bank cannot lend without collateral and consideration of social repayment.

“Since the regulatory environment does not permit banks to lend without taking these issues into consideration, countries create development financing institutions that can take some of the risks. And, also, having development financing institutions and global financing that help to de-risk transactions so that banks can come in and provide the capital,” Elumelu said.

“One of the reasons my wife and I established the Tony Elumelu Foundation is to support young African entrepreneurs. Access to capital is critical for entrepreneurship development. But oftentimes, people lack what it takes to access it. The Foundation has provided USD100 million. And every year, we identify young African entrepreneurs who have business ideas and train them on how to actualise these ideas.”

Further emphasising that access to capital, “while important, is not the only condition that will make you succeed. Business education is important. So we train them, appoint mentors for them, create a networking platform for them, and then provide them with the knowledge they need to receive capital. To date, in Africa, we have funded over 24,000 young African entrepreneurs. And the good news is that about half of these people are females.”

Elumelu said youth-centred interventions significantly boost agro-entrepreneurship as a key driver for economic growth, job creation, and stability while addressing the youth opportunity deficit.

“Nearly 21 percent of those who are funded in Africa are in agriculture and agribusinesses.  And out of these 21 percent, which is about 5,600 beneficiaries, 55 percent of them are females. So in a way, we are trying to help bridge that capital gap, finance gap. But that is not enough. It’s just a tiny drop of water in the ocean. So we need even more partnerships.”

Elumelu further drew on his Africapitalism philosophy, which is a call to action for businesses to move beyond short-term profit-seeking and instead make investments that generate socio-economic benefits for the communities in which they operate. And his foundation’s decade-long experience building Africa’s largest entrepreneurship ecosystem speaks to how entrepreneurship, private capital, and market-driven solutions can transform rural economies, expand food systems, and close the youth opportunity gap.

IFAD is an international financial institution and a United Nations-specific agency that invests in rural communities, empowering them to reduce poverty, increase food security, improve nutrition, and strengthen resilience. It has thus far provided more than USD 25 billion in grants and low-interest loans to fund projects in developing countries.

The Governing Council is IFAD’s highest decision-making body that, among other things, provides a forum for Governors to share their insights on priority areas for strategic action to lift the livelihoods of rural people.

This session also takes place at the beginning of the International Year of the Woman Farmer, declared in recognition of the key role that women farmers around the world play in agrifood systems and their contributions to food security, nutrition and poverty eradication.

Empowering youth and women entrepreneurs to initiate and expand agribusinesses serves as a vital catalyst for economic development and creates lasting positive impacts. Women make up more than half of IFAD’s project participants, while over 60 per cent of the active project portfolio is youth-sensitive, reaching more than 12 million young people globally.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');  

Yameogo Aminata says her four sons were slaughtered and her daughter is missing.

President Mnangagwa's term in office is due to end in 2028 but a bill could open the way for him to extend that time.

The items stolen in the late 19th Century by British troops will officially be returned to Nigeria.

The High Court judgement says Dalitso Lungu, 39, failed to show they were acquired lawfully.

All 55 people on board survived after the plane failed to land on the runway near the shoreline.

Depuis Oran, une initiative née d’une coopération algéro-japonaise prend de l’ampleur et s’apprête à transformer durablement la pêche artisanale sur l’ensemble du littoral algérien. Lancée […]

L’article Du poisson frais et en abondance : cette initiative algéro-japonaise testée depuis 2021 se généralise est apparu en premier sur .

La Banque d'Investissement et de Développement de la CEDEAO (BIDC) a nommé M. Baba Malick Ba au poste de Directeur Régional en charge de la supervision de la Côte d'Ivoire, du Sénégal, de la Gambie, du Burkina Faso, du Cap-Vert et de la Guinée, à compter du 1er février 2026.

Baba Malick Ba est un professionnel chevronné de la finance qui possède une vaste expérience dans les secteurs public et privé, dans divers domaines : gestion des risques, financement de projets, banque, marchés de capitaux, financement des exportations, analyse de crédit, gestion de portefeuille, marchés financiers et partenariats public-privé.Avant de rejoindre la Banque, M. Ba a travaillé pour le gouvernement sénégalais au ministère de l'Économie, du Plan et de la Coopération en tant que Directeur du financement et des partenariats public-privé et Coordonnateur de l'unité PPP du Sénégal (UNAPPP).

De plus, M. Ba a occupé le poste de Conseiller Senior auprès du ministre de l'Économie, du Plan et de la Coopération du Sénégal sur des questions financières et stratégiques. Il a joué un rôle important dans la mobilisation de capitaux pour financer degrands projets d'infrastructure dans de nombreux secteurs tels que les transports, la santé, l'assainissement, l'énergie et l'éducation. M. Ba a également occupé divers postes stratégiques au sein d'entreprises publiques canadiennes (Exportation et développement Canada et Société canadienne d'hypothèques et de logement) et a travaillé comme banquier pour JP Morgan Chase et Bank of America aux États-Unis et au Canada.M. Ba est parfaitement bilingue (français et anglais) et titulaire d'un Executive MBA de l'Université du Québec à Montréal (Canada) ainsi que d'une licence en finance et en administration des affaires de l'Université Franklin de Columbus, dans l'Ohio (États-Unis).

En outre, M. Ba a siégé au conseil d'administration de plusieurs banques multilatérales telles que la Banque Islamique de Développement, la BOAD et la BIDC.Dans le cadre de ses nouvelles fonctions à la BIDC, il soutiendra les opérations régionales de la Banque, renforcera les partenariats et fera progresser la mission de la BIDC en faveur du développement économique durable dans la région de la CEDEAO. Il sera basé au bureau régional de la Banque à Abidjan.

À propos de la BIDC

La Banque d'Investissement et de Développement de la CEDEAO (BIDC) est l'Institution de Financement du Développement des États membres de la Communauté Économique des États de l'Afrique de l'Ouest (CEDEAO). Basée à Lomé, en République togolaise, la Banque s'engage à financer des projets et programmes de développement portant sur diverses initiatives dans les secteurs des infrastructures et des services sociaux de base, du développement rural et de l'environnement, de l'industrie ainsi que des services sociaux, à travers ses guichets dédiés aux secteurs privé et public. Les interventions de la BIDC se font sous forme de prêts à long, moyen et court terme, de prises de participation, d'octroi de lignes de crédit et mise en place d'accords-cadres de refinancement, des opérations d'ingénierie financière et services connexes.

Plus de 40 tonnes de marijuana ont été saisies en Macédoine du Nord, une semaine après une importante opération en Serbie. Les autorités évoquent des cultures légales détournées vers le trafic.

- Le fil de l'Info / Courrier des Balkans, drogues, Macédoine du Nord, Serbie, Défense, police et justice, Relations régionales

Moderate socialist António José Seguro will be Portugal's next president after defeating his right-wing populist rival André Ventura (Chega party) in the runoff election and securing around 67 percent of the vote. Conservative Prime Minister Luís Montenegro congratulated him on his victory and said he hoped they would be able to collaborate effectively. The constitution gives the president the right to veto laws, dissolve parliament and call new elections.

Nairobi says it has shut down illegal recruiters and will urge Moscow to sign a deal banning conscription.

Eswatini says the talks were part of regional diplomacy and not an attempt to interfere.

New Zealand make it two wins from two matches at the T20 World Cup after they thrash the United Arab Emirates by 10 wickets in Chennai.

La présidente de la Commission européenne estime que les États membres devraient pouvoir avancer par groupes restreints plutôt que d’attendre un consensus des Vingt-Sept, alors que l’Union peine à relancer sa croissance.

The post Pour relancer la croissance, Ursula von der Leyen propose une Europe à deux vitesses appeared first on Euractiv FR.

Every morning before sunrise, 10-year-old Amina Adan walks away from school and toward a shrinking water pan on the outskirts of Rhamu, Mandera County. By the time her classmates would be opening exercise books, Amina was already balancing a yellow jerrycan almost half her size. Her mother, Fatuma Adan, says the choice is no longer […]

Des millions de documents liés à Epstein publiés par le ministère américain de la Justice mentionnent les noms de personnalités riches et puissantes du monde entier.

Dans l'édition de mardi, également : Euronews, migration, OTAN, commerce américain, ETS

The post L’essor d’une Europe ad hoc appeared first on Euractiv FR.