Ghanaian agritech startup AkoFresh has won the US$100,000 Youth Entrepreneurship Award from the OPEC Fund for International Development, showcasing the impact of African entrepreneurs in addressing food insecurity with climate-smart solutions.
The award, presented during the OPEC Fund Development Forum as the institution marked its 50th anniversary, recognises young innovators using entrepreneurship to solve some of the world’s most urgent development challenges.
In Africa, about 30% to 40% of food produced is lost due to poor storage and transport infrastructure. The recognition of homegrown innovations to tackle this issue signals growing global confidence in addressing a major agricultural challenge on the continent.
Receiving the award in Vienna, Mathias Charles Yabe, CEO and founder of AkoFresh, described the recognition as a milestone not only for the company but also for young African innovators building solutions for the continent.
“On behalf of our incredible team at AkoFresh, I had the honor of accepting the inaugural OPEC Fund Youth Entrepreneurship Award in Vienna — a $100,000 global recognition celebrating young entrepreneurs under 30 building climate, food security, and renewable energy solutions across the developing world.”
AkoFresh has built a business around reducing post-harvest losses through solar-powered cold storage facilities, refrigerated transportation, farmer training and market linkages, enabling rural farmers to preserve perishable produce, secure better prices and improve household incomes.
The startup’s model combines renewable energy with agricultural logistics, providing smallholder farmers with affordable cold-chain infrastructure that has historically remained out of reach across much of Africa.
“Our mission has been simple: to ensure that farmers who work tirelessly to feed our communities do not lose their livelihoods because of post-harvest losses,” Yabe said.
“Our innovative solar-powered cold storage, refrigerated transport and farmer training are reducing post-harvest losses and strengthening food systems in local communities.”
Development experts increasingly view cold-chain innovation as one of the continent’s biggest untapped business opportunities. Agriculture employs more than 60% of Africa’s workforce, yet billions of dollars are lost annually as fruits, vegetables and other perishable products spoil before reaching markets.
By extending shelf life and connecting farmers to buyers, companies such as AkoFresh are helping turn climate resilience into a commercially viable business model while strengthening food security.
The recognition comes as investors continue to increase funding for African climate technology and agritech ventures, sectors that have emerged among the fastest-growing areas of innovation despite a slowdown in global venture capital investment.
Yabe said the company’s journey reflects the determination of young African entrepreneurs despite limited access to opportunities.
“Building an organization from scratch with my team on a continent filled with extraordinary talent, resilience, and ambition has been an incredible journey. I’ve seen too many young people wake up every day with brilliant ideas but limited opportunities to turn those ideas into impact.”
He added that international recognition sends an important message to Africa’s next generation of innovators.
“This award gives hope. It sends a powerful message that young people are the architects of the solutions to today’s most urgent challenges.”
OPEC Fund President Abdulhamid Alkhalifa said the winners demonstrated how innovation can generate measurable development impact.
“Development progress depends not only on finance, but on people with the vision and determination to turn ideas into practical solutions,” he said.
“These three winners demonstrate how local leadership and innovation can deliver real impact for communities and help address some of the world’s most pressing development challenges. We are proud to support their work.”
Alongside AkoFresh, the OPEC Fund presented its US$250,000 Innovation for Development Award to Bangladesh’s iFarmer Limited, an agritech platform connecting more than 300,000 smallholder farmers to finance, agricultural inputs, advisory services, weather information and markets through a digital ecosystem that has helped move hundreds of thousands of tonnes of produce into commercial supply chains.
The US$450,000 Transformational Impact Award was awarded to Fundación Plan International España for DESFERS, a programme supporting women entrepreneurs in the Sahel through renewable energy, business skills development and improved access to finance.
This year’s awards marked a major relaunch of the OPEC Fund’s Annual Award for Development, first introduced in 2006. Redesigned to coincide with the institution’s Golden Jubilee, the programme now recognises innovation, transformational impact and youth entrepreneurship, reflecting the development bank’s growing emphasis on scalable, locally led solutions.
Established in 1976, the OPEC Fund has committed more than US$32 billion to development projects in over 125 countries, mobilising investments exceeding US$240 billion across infrastructure, energy, agriculture, healthcare, education and small business development.
For Africa’s innovation ecosystem, however, the biggest story may be the growing recognition that solutions to the continent’s food security and climate challenges are increasingly being built by African entrepreneurs themselves.
As governments and development finance institutions search for scalable ways to strengthen agricultural productivity and climate resilience, startups such as AkoFresh are proving that African innovation is no longer simply attracting international recognition, it is becoming a critical driver of sustainable economic transformation.
