Dear Leaders, Policymakers, and Partners of the Africa Food Systems Forum,
My name is Adja Boudy Kanté. I am 32 years old, a mother, and a proud young entrepreneur from Senegal. I come from Guediawaye, just outside Dakar, and I've dedicated my life to something deeply personal, which is creating nutritious, healthy products made from local cereals that heal and empower.
Why? Because I've seen what poor diets and imported processed foods can do. My parents live with diabetes, and I refused to believe that this was our only future. So, in 2019, I built Cereal House, a company turning traditional African cereals, like millet and sorghum, and super foods like moringa into healthy, accessible products for our families, our youth, and those struggling with chronic illnesses.
We’re not just selling granola. We’re rewriting the story of African food, making it modern, relevant and proudly local.
But behind every granola is a mountain we had to climb. And we’re still climbing. Being a Young Agripreneur in Africa is a true test of resilience. Every day we face:
- Finance that doesn't fit us: Banks treat us as high-risk. We’re asked for guarantees we don’t have and interest rates that we can’t afford.
- Logistics that block us: Just getting products from Dakar to Abidjan can feel harder than exporting to Europe.
- Infrastructure that limits us: We lack the cold chains, storage and semi-industrial processing capacity to scale up.
- Fragmented standards: Each country has its own food certification rules, making it nearly impossible to export within Africa.
- Unfair competition: Subsidized imports flood our markets while our own high-quality African products remain under-recognized.
These aren’t just my problems. They are shared by thousands of young people across the continent trying to build businesses that feed our people and power our economies.
Let me give you one example: A gourmet store in Côte d’Ivoire once reached out after seeing our products online. They were excited to bring Cereal House granola to their shelves. And so was I. The excitement was palpable but short-lived. Between sky-high transport costs, complex customs processes, and unrecognized certifications, the opportunity slipped through my fingers. Not because of demand. But because of the system. Adja Boudy Kanté.
AfCFTA: A Door to a New Future?
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) gives me hope. It could be a bridge between what we are and what we can become. It has the power to:
- Unlock new markets: Our products shouldn’t stop at the border. They should flow from Senegal to Kenya, Ghana, Cameroon and beyond.
- Unify Standards: Shared, recognized certifications would reduce costs and make it easier for African products to move and compete.
- Smoother customs and logistics: We need faster, more predictable systems that encourage trade, not block it.
- Inspire pan-African collaboration: A common market means shared resources, knowledge, and innovation, where entrepreneurs can learn and build together.
- Attract investment: A unified market of 1.4 billion people turns small ventures into major opportunities.
This isn’t about policy on paper, it's about real change for real people. For me and other young people, this could be the difference between struggling to survive and being able to thrive.
I dream of an Africa where a farmer in Mali can sell her millet in Senegal with ease. Where a processor like me can transform it into a snack in Dakar, and ship it to customers in Rwanda, Côte d’Ivoire, or Zambia without a hundred hurdles.
I dream of an Africa where ‘Buy African’ isn’t a campaign, but a lifestyle. Where our food is proudly on our shelves, in our schools and on our tables. These are my dreams.
To all of you attending the Africa Food Systems Forum, here’s what we need:
- Harmonized food safety and certification standards across Africa.
- Simplified and transparent customs procedures.
- Serious investments in logistics, cold chains, and trade infrastructure.
- A continental fund that supports youth-led agrifood businesses and innovation.
We don’t need handouts. We need fair systems, access, and belief.
We have the ideas. We have the energy. We have the will. Give us the tools, and we will feed Africa and the world.
With hope, determination, and deep love for this continent,
Adja Boudy Kante
Founder, Cereal House, Senegal.
Young Agripreneur & Advocate for Healthy, Local African Food.
