AUDA NEPAD

13/10/2026

A scan is only useful when someone can read it in time. A referral only works when it reaches a specialist who can respond.

Across Africa, closing these gaps is increasingly the work of African health-tech companies. Through the Home-Grown Solutions (HGS) Accelerator, launched in 2020 with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), we have supported 46 companies across five cohorts to become more competitive, investable and ready to strengthen health systems.

Two of them show what this looks like in practice.

Rology, founded in Egypt, connects hospitals and imaging centres with qualified radiologists through its AI-assisted teleradiology platform. With HGS support, the company identified priority markets and built a structured plan for expansion. By March 2026, it had delivered more than 1.5 million radiology reports across 369 hospitals in 12 countries.

Vula, from South Africa, enables frontline health workers to consult specialists and refer patients directly. HGS helped the team strengthen its financial model and connected it with SaaS expertise. Vula has now passed 3 million patient referrals, with more than 45,000 health professionals across five countries and specialist responses averaging around 15 minutes.
This year, HGS added a climate track alongside health, and together they drew more than 600 applications. The ambition is clear. Hundreds of African ventures share the potential of Rology and Vula, and with the right support, they can help build a healthier and more resilient continent.

Read the full story and find out how HGS is helping African health-tech companies scale.

https://www.nepad.org/news/home-grown-solutions-accelerator-strengthening-africas-health-systems-scaling-african

12/10/2026

Bringing AUDA-NEPAD closer to African countries!

AUDA-NEPAD engaged with the Government of Angola on 3-4 October to discuss the Agency’s strategy to establish national offices across African Union Member States.

The initiative aims to strengthen collaboration with national governments and bring AUDA-NEPAD’s support closer to countries as they advance their development priorities and the aspirations of .

07/10/2026

Tracking progress. Strengthening seed systems. Building Africa’s food-secure future.

A significant milestone was reached at the AU Ministerial Seed Summit, held on 6 October 2026 in Ezulwini, Eswatini, where the African Union Commission presented the 2025 African Seed Sector Performance Index (ASSPI) Status Report.

The report provides a continent-wide view of seed sector performance, outlining the methodology, key findings and progress across AU Member States. Senior officials subsequently adopted it as Africa’s continental framework for monitoring seed sector performance.

AUDA-NEPAD is proud to be part of this important process, working with continental partners to strengthen seed systems and advance the transformation of Africa’s agri-food systems.

06/10/2026

AUDA-NEPAD at the African Union Africa Seed Forum. 'It all starts with seeds'- Dr Clement Adjorlolo, AUDA-NEPAD, Principal Programme Officer for Agriculture and Rural Transformation

05/10/2026

Ezulwini is buzzing with conversations about Africa’s seed sector!

The African Union Africa Seed Forum is underway in Eswatini, with AUDA-NEPAD represented by Dr. Clement Adjorlolo who presented the Africa Seed Sector Performance Index Status Report 2025.

Delegates have been engaging with the findings, sharing reflections and putting forward recommendations on how Africa can strengthen its seed sector.

And tomorrow, we take it up a notch! 🔥
The official opening of the Africa Seed Forum will bring together high-level representatives from across the continent. Exhibitions will also showcase work and innovations in the seed sector.

The opening will be graced by His Majesty King Mswati III of the Kingdom of Eswatini.
Stay with us as the conversations continue from Ezulwini! 🌱🇸🇿

05/10/2026

As guest of honour of the East and Southern African Private Sector Forum on Irrigation, Hon. Eric Murithi Mugaa, Cabinet Secretary for Water, Sanitation and Irrigation, presented Kenya's National Irrigation Sector Investment Plan for 2025 to 2035, developed with counties, farmer organisations, the private sector and development partners. The plan aims to bring about 1.5 million acres under irrigation at a cost of around US$4.6 billion, and he was clear that public funding alone will not get there.

He called on equipment suppliers and banks to work with the programme, on agribusinesses to give farmers a reliable market, and on development partners to align their support behind the national plan.

05/10/2026

Also speaking at the opening of the East and Southern African Private Sector Forum on Irrigation, Dr Qimiao Fan, Division Director for Eastern and Southern Africa at the World Bank Group, welcomed the nine governments that have come to Nairobi to present investment opportunities, along with the private sector firms and development partners who travelled to meet them.

He noted that more than 95% of farming in sub-Saharan Africa still depends on rain, leaving farmers exposed to drought and climate shocks. Doubling irrigation access in Africa could feed an additional 235 million people, reduce reliance on food imports and create around four jobs for every newly irrigated hectare.

Mr Fan said the region needs a different path to expansion. That path is led by farmers who invest in their own solutions, products and services sold through functioning markets, policies that make it viable for companies to operate across borders, and financing that pays for results and shares risk with commercial lenders.

He closed with two requests. He asked the private sector to come forward with specific commitments, and governments to set out what they are prepared to change on policy and regulation.

05/10/2026

The East and Southern African Private Sector Forum on Irrigation opened today in Nairobi, Kenya, with a keynote address by our Director of Infrastructure, Industrialisation, Trade and Regional Integration, Mr Amine Idriss Adoum.

In his remarks, Mr Adoum said that Africa does not lack irrigation potential. What it lacks is a commercially viable system around the water. Less than 6% of Africa's cropland is equipped for irrigation, compared with 23% globally, yet irrigated land is more than three times as productive by value as rainfed land.

He named four constraints that have held back progress. These are high construction costs, credit that does not reach smallholder farmers, projects that are not yet bankable, and the lack of reliable buyers. Irrigation scales when infrastructure, farmers, finance, technology and markets work together. Development finance should play a catalytic role through project preparation, guarantees and risk-sharing.

Over the two days, participants will work through these challenges in plenary sessions, breakouts and deal rooms. The aim is to leave Nairobi with concrete commitments and partnerships that move the region from irrigation potential to irrigation at scale.

04/10/2026

04/10/2026

How do we turn Africa's potential into roads, factories and jobs? 🌍

Read our CEO Nardos Bekele-Thomas's opening speech at the Alamein Africa Forum: https://www.nepad.org/publication/remarks-of-mrs-nardos-bekele-thomas-ceo-of-auda-nepad-opening-ceremony-of-alamein