AgriConnect: What the World Bank’s New Agriculture Initiative Means for Africa
The World Bank’s new AgriConnect initiative, launched at the 2025 Annual Meetings in Washington, signals a renewed push to make agriculture a true engine of jobs, investment, and growth. For Africa, home to more than half of the world’s uncultivated arable land and the largest concentration of smallholder farmers, this initiative could be transformative.
Why It Matters for Africa
Across the continent, agriculture remains the backbone of most economies, employing more than 60 percent of Africa’s workforce. Yet millions of farmers still struggle to access finance, reliable markets, and the infrastructure they need to grow beyond subsistence. The result is a system that produces plenty of effort but too little income.
AgriConnect aims to change that by tackling the full ecosystem — from production to markets, logistics, and finance. The World Bank has committed to investing $9 billion annually by 2030 to support agribusiness growth and to mobilise additional billions from partners and private investors.
What AgriConnect Seeks to Do
The initiative focuses on practical steps that can unlock Africa’s agricultural potential:
Finance and risk-sharing mechanisms to help farmers and agribusinesses access capital.
Infrastructure and logistics to improve storage, reduce losses, and connect rural areas to regional markets.
Policy and institutional support to help governments attract investment and create enabling environments.
Digital and data-driven agriculture to connect farmers, buyers, and lenders more efficiently.
Inclusive participation that ensures women, youth, and farmers in fragile regions benefit equally.
AgriConnect is designed not just to grow more food, but to grow more opportunity — by turning small farms into viable enterprises and building stronger local value chains across Africa.
The Road Ahead
The ambition is clear, but delivery will be complex. Success will depend on how effectively countries tailor AgriConnect to local realities, how quickly private capital can be mobilised, and how well governments coordinate policy and investment.
If implemented with local ownership and strong partnerships, AgriConnect could help move African agriculture from subsistence to scale — unlocking jobs, investment, and resilience at every link in the value chain.
KCL Global will continue to follow AgriConnect’s rollout and explore how African governments, investors, and agribusinesses can position themselves to take advantage of this new wave of agricultural investment.