Rwandan entrepreneur Marina Kamanzi takes USD 40,000 Grand Prize as women-led businesses are celebrated for innovation, value addition, resilience, and economic impact.
KIGALI, Rwanda— African women entrepreneurs building businesses across seed production, food processing, agricultural technology, value addition, and rural enterprise have been recognized at the 2026 VALUE4HER Women Agripreneurs of the Year Awards (WAYA) in Kigali. The winners emerged from a competitive continental process that began with over 1,000 applications across 35 African countries, ultimately producing 19 finalists representing 15 nations.
At the center of the evening was Rwandan entrepreneur Marina Kamanzi, Founder and Managing Director of Zambia-based Kagezi Seed Company Limited. Named the 2026 WAYA Grand Prize Winner, Kamanzi received USD 40,000 for her work in seed production and agricultural enterprise development. Operating within a foundational segment of Africa’s food system, her enterprise underscores the critical need to strengthen seed networks and supply farmers with inputs that enhance productivity, climate resilience, and commercial opportunities. Her achievement reflects a broader shift across African agriculture, where women are not merely participating in food systems, but actively building and owning the enterprises shaping them.
WAYA serves as AGRA’s flagship continental recognition program for female agripreneurs, combining industry visibility with catalyst prize capital to support long-term enterprise growth.
Category Winners
Women Empowerment Champion Winner: Ifeoma Mary Okonkwo — IFGREEN Industries & Investment Ltd., Nigeria (USD 25,000) Okonkwo leads a cassava enterprise integrating production, processing, structured sourcing, and market access. Her recognition highlights how commercially viable businesses create ripple effects through job creation, robust farmer relationships, and expanded supply chains for other women. This category honors agripreneurs intentionally opening pathways for women to build their own enterprises. 1st Runner-Up: Thokozani Chimasula — Malawi (USD 10,000) 2nd Runner-Up: Irene Etyang — Kenya (USD 8,000)
Resilient & Inspirational Leader Winner: Doreen Jean Nsasiirwe — Westlink Delicacy Api Group Ltd., Uganda (USD 25,000) Nsasiirwe has built an agribusiness spanning apiculture, natural products, and community livelihoods, demonstrating how agriculture can drive income while fortifying natural ecosystems. This category recognizes leaders building agribusinesses despite severe challenges in vulnerable, marginalized, or hard-to-reach communities while generating clear social impact. 1st Runner-Up: Aniella Niyondiko — Burundi (USD 10,000) 2nd Runner-Up: Portia Asumda — Ghana (USD 8,000)
Outstanding Value-Adding Enterprise Winner: Peserverance Muzeya — Alzanael Private Limited, Zimbabwe (USD 25,000) Muzeya addresses one of the continent’s premier agricultural opportunities: retaining the economic value of African agricultural products within local businesses and communities. Through Alzanael Private Limited, she directly links primary production with processing and consumer markets. This category recognizes female-owned agribusinesses that significantly boost the market value and consumer appeal of raw goods. 1st Runner-Up: Zainab Lawal Gwadabe — Nigeria (USD 10,000) 2nd Runner-Up: Aminata Ouattara — Burkina Faso (USD 8,000)
Female Ag-Tech Innovator Winner: Cherotich Rutto — Tawi Fresh, Kenya (USD 25,000) Rutto built a technology-enabled agribusiness solving one of sector’s most persistent bottlenecks: connecting fragmented supply with predictable market demand. Tawi Fresh proves that Ag-Tech opportunities extend beyond crop production to transforming how farmers access commercial buyers. This category recognizes women championing technological advancement in agribusiness. 1st Runner-Up: Seynabou Diallo — Senegal (USD 10,000) 2nd Runner-Up: Millicent Okumu — Kenya (USD 8,000)
Young Female Agripreneur — Rising Star Winner: Sakalé Traoré — Mali (USD 25,000) The Rising Star category celebrates high-potential young women under the age of 35 who demonstrate exceptional leadership and innovation in agribusiness.
Regional Winners North Africa: Amira Affaf Bellil — Algeria (USD 12,000) West Africa: Yvette Dickson-Tetteh — Ghana (USD 12,000) East Africa: Sabiha Rashid — Tanzania (USD 12,000) Central Africa: Rachel Ushindi — Democratic Republic of Congo (USD 12,000) Southern Africa: Shirley Marlin Da Graça — Mozambique (USD 12,000)
Beyond Recognition
WAYA is anchored within AGRA’s broader VALUE4HER initiative, an ecosystem connecting over 17,000 women-led agribusinesses across 48 African countries to finance, markets, technology, knowledge, and commercial networks. The initiative aims to translate event recognition into institutional credibility, expanded market access, and vital business resources.
As AGRA President Alice Ruhweza noted, women operate across every level of Africa’s food systems, as farmers, cooperative leaders, processors, and network managers, making direct investment in women-led agribusiness a imperative of smart economics. The honorees recognized at WAYA 2026 embody this economic potential, demonstrating that women are actively building the enterprises driving Africa’s agricultural transformation
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