The World Resources Institute (WRI) in partnership with AFR100 and the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), is announcing that the application for the fourth Land Accelerator Africa opens through March 31, 2022.
The Land Accelerator is the world’s first training and mentorship program which is tailored towards the needs of businesses that restore degraded forests, farmland, and pasture.
The announcement was made in a statement posted online Wednesday.
Signed by Land Accelerator Africa Manager, World Resources Institute, Samuel Kabiru and Communications and Advocacy Officer, Teko Nhlapo, the statement emphasised that this year’s edition encourages women-led and youth-led companies to apply.
Applications from all African Union member countries are welcome, the statement said.
Land Accelerator lends its support to the AFR100 in its goal to restore 100 million hectares of Land by 2023 by providing Land-restorating entrepreneurs all over Africa with avenues for mentorship and networking, technical training, and workshops to build their storytelling and pitching skills, the statement announced further.
At the close of the program participants are well equipped to connect with potential investors in order to take their businesses to the next phase of development. The program has attracted approximately 2,000 applicants across Africa. So far 11,200 jobs have been created by the 110 alumni from 34 countries, they’ve worked with 56,000 farmers and have restored 127,000 hectares of land.
For the 2022 edition, an exciting approach is being adopted which includes:
– Encouragement of all participants to attend an informal session on Feb 22 for this year’s application process, focused on gender equity.
– From among the applicants, the team will select 100 of Africa’s top restoration entrepreneurs, all of whom will benefit from the extensive online training and networking over three months.
– A panel of experts will then select the Top 15, who will benefit from one-on-one technical support and pitch their business to a room full of investors during an Impact Day in October 2022.
