AFEX Expands Annual Code Cash Crop into Kenya, Opens Registration for Ag-hackathon

AFEX, a leading commodities market player, announces the expansion of its annual Code Cash Crop into Kenya, and unveils “Scaling Market-Led Solutions”, as the theme for the event which is set to hold in August 2023.

The firm is also now accepting applications from talents in Kenya for the Ag-hackathon component of the event. Code Cash Crop is an exciting industry event that harnesses innovation across the Agriculture, Finance and Technology sectors, to solve problems related to Africa’s food systems. 

This announcement comes after AFEX expanded its operations and opened its Kenyan office in 2021, as part of its strategic mission to penetrate the African commodities market and replicate its success in Nigeria in creating access to pan-African commodities trading across Africa, while bolstering the continent’s food security.  

While the maiden editions focused on aggregating sector players to discuss how their industries align and opportunities for collaboration to solve African food problems, this year’s theme focuses on prioritising conversations and ideation around solutions that address a significant gap in the market while optimising sustainability and profitability.

The Ag-hackathon was built on providing young entrepreneurs a unique opportunity to create innovative ideas and profitable business models that solve problems in the ecosystem, and thus, the 4.0 challenge invites technological inventions and innovations to cater to pressing needs within the Kenyan market, with emphasis on data and analytics, access to market and input, as well as credit facilities. Both the ag-hackathon and the Code Cash Crop main event will bring the biggest innovators together to consider efficiency and competitiveness as key signposts to a thriving food system in Africa.  

The MD, AFEX Fair Trade Limited Kenya, Tabitha Njuguna, speaking about this year’s edition of the event, stated, “We are excited to include Kenya in this year’s iteration of Code Cash Crop. Kenya is fast becoming the largest economy in East Africa with our projected growth to hit 5.4% in 2024, according to World Economic Outlook. This expansion is therefore timely and important in this stage of Kenya’s development. The Code Cash Crop event is a unique opportunity to strengthen collaboration across finance, technology, agriculture and government, and this year, we are incredibly committed to promoting conversations and engineering profitable solutions through the Ag-hackathon.”

The grand finale will feature a live pitch session from the Kenyan and Nigerian Ag-hackathon participants, networking and panel discussions from industry experts across Agriculture, Agribusiness, Finance, Government and other stakeholders, as well as exhibitions from startups within the same industries. 

How to register 

To register for the Ag-hackathon, visit the AFEX website