AAICE 2026
National Host Partner: Burundi Ministry of East African Community Affairs, Youth, Sports and Culture.
Host Partners:
- Centre de Formation Polytechnique et de Reconversion Professionnelle de Rusi (CEFORE-RUSI),
- Burundi Business Incubator (BBIN)
- The Youth Agribusiness Incubator (YAIN)
Theme: "Advancing Incubation and Acceleration Ecosystems for Job Opportunities in Africa"
Venue: Bujumbura City, Burundi
When: August 4th - 7th, 2026
The African Agribusiness Incubation and Acceleration Conference and Expo (AAICE) is a flagship continental platform, convened annually in different regions of Africa to drive high-level, evidence-based dialogue on emerging development priorities within the incubation, acceleration, and innovation ecosystem. Each year, AAICE brings together a diverse community of policymakers, researchers, incubator leaders, private sector actors, youth and women entrepreneurs, development partners, and investors maintaining its strong representation from African countries and other low- and middle-income regions.
The 2026 11th AAICE edition, held under the theme “Advancing Incubation and Acceleration Ecosystems for Job Opportunities in Africa,” and it will be held in Bujumbura, Burundi on August 4th - 7th 2026 organised in partnership with the Republic of Burundi Ministry of East African Community Affairs, Youth, Sports and Culture, the African Union Commission (AUC), the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), African Development Bank (AfDB), and the country host incubators; Centre de Formation Polytechnique et de Reconversion Professionnelle de Rusi (CEFORE-RUSI), Youth Agribusiness Incubator (YAIN), & Burundi Business Incubator (BBIN).
While AAICE 2026 will convene a substantial in-person audience, the conference will retain a fully hybrid format to ensure broader inclusivity and global participation. This hybrid platform will enable broader participation across Africa and beyond. This will ensure that the conference’s knowledge exchange, investment dialogues, and partnership-building sessions remain accessible to a wide global community.
The 11th African Agribusiness Incubation and Acceleration Conference and Expo (AAICE) will center its deliberations on “Advancing Incubation and Acceleration Ecosystems for Jobs Opportunities in Africa.” As Africa navigates rapid demographic growth, shifting global markets, climate pressures, and technological transformation, strengthening incubation and acceleration ecosystems has become a strategic priority for catalyzing enterprise development, innovation, and employment creation especially for youth and women. Business incubators and accelerators now play a critical role in shaping resilient agri-food systems, enhancing market access, expanding digital capabilities, and nurturing an entrepreneurial generation equipped to drive the continent’s economic transformation. Advancing these ecosystems is no longer an optional pathway, it is an urgency for building competitive future-ready African economies capable of generating dignified jobs for youth and women.
Against this backdrop, AAICE 2026 will convene diverse actors to examine the multidimensional elements that underpin high-performing incubation and acceleration systems. The conference will explore how strengthening this system can position youth- and women-led SMEs at the forefront of Africa’s transformation.
With these considerations in mind, the Conference will address the following thematic streams:
1. Financing and Investment Models for Incubators and Accelerators
- Accessible, Affordable, and Competitive Input and Output Markets - Strengthening market systems, and improving regional and continental trade opportunities including through AfCFTA.
- Youth and Women Participation in Agribusiness and Investments
- Future Economies and Frontier Opportunities
- AI and Digital Agribusiness Innovation Management
- Policy and Legal Infrastructure for Incubation and Acceleration
- North - South and South - South Cooperation
- Research, Technology Transfer, and Commercialization.
- Public–Private Partnerships for Trade and Economic Transformation
The conference will last four days. Events will include:
▪ Thematic Sessions (Plenaries): They will facilitate knowledge exchange, showcase successful innovations, and identify opportunities for collaboration.
▪ Investor Roundtables and Panels: Breakout sessions and panels consisting of keynote speakers, moderator, experts, and the audience, with a more interactive format intended to provide insights and tools to address challenges in the realization of global SDGs.
▪ Business Side Events: Opportunities for partners to engage stakeholders from diverse backgrounds to delve deeper into key issues, share experiences, and generate practical recommendations and strategies to accelerate the effective implementations towards Agenda 2063 and Global SDGs.
▪ Exhibition & Expo with booths from the conference hosts, session organizers and sponsors, including youth agripreneur value chains, Innovations, and technology showcasing products and services
▪ Exposure Field Visits, Delegates will have the chance to visit Incubators, Accelerators & Ecosystem Actors in Burundi.
Networking and Business-to-Business (B2B) Dialogues, will maximize engagements and business opportunities for all delegates through ; Structured networking time and space, Expanded exhibition and cutting-edge technologies and show rooms, Complimentary barista bar and dinner sessions, Communications app and meetings planner, Dedicated meeting points and networking lounges, B2B bilateral meeting rooms and partnership dealing hours, In country learning and exchange visits, Daily event news bulletin publications, Cultural dance, music and creative show rooms/space, BIM training and accreditation sessions, and Africa Business Mentors Class and experience sharing
AAICE 2026 is expected to attract approximately 8,000 participants in total combining in-person attendance and a large virtual audience drawn from a wide and diverse ecosystem of actors including government officials, representatives from Development Organisations, regional networks of youth and Women, international organizations, civil society, policy makers, incubators, private sector, impact investors, and think tanks academics across Africa and beyond.
Previous AAICE editions have attracted participants from the 55 AU member states and other non-AU member states including global innovation experts who collectively shape the agenda for incubation and acceleration initiatives on the continent. The host country (Burundi) and regional ecosystem comprising universities, research centers, private sector networks, government institutions, and innovation hub will be strongly represented to enrich the deliberations. Their active participation ensures that AAICE 2026 reflects both global expertise and locally grounded solutions that collectively advance Africa’s incubation and acceleration agenda.
The conference is expected to attract over 5000 participants in-person and online from across the world including business incubators, investors, exhibitors, government and private institutions, innovators, development partners, drivers in the agricultural sector including youth and women farmers, agro processors and manufactures, traders, financiers, logistics providers, policy makers, aggregators and researchers.
The AAICE 2026 takes stock of the past events within the agribusiness incubation and innovation ecosystem and uses the opportunity to further deliberate, explore and take decisions to support the development of the agribusiness sector in Africa and especially focused on entrepreneurship education and training. The 2026 conference builds on the previously held agribusiness incubation conferences held; Tunis-Tunisia in 2025, Lusaka-Zambia in 2024, Nigeria Abuja in 2023, Kigali-Rwanda in 2013, Johannesburg-South Africa in 2014; Nairobi-Kenya in 2015; Accra-Ghana in 2016; Dakar-Senegal in 2018; the blended online and on-site conference in Uganda in 2020, as well as the hybrid conference in Malawi in 2021.
AAIN is a technical partner of the African Union Commission’s Department for Rural Economy, Agriculture and Blue Economy (AU DREABE) on issues concerning agribusiness incubation. This responsibility is implemented as a component of the AAIN- African Union’s African Agribusiness Incubation Programme (AAIP), which covers all 55 African Union member countries. AAIN and AU DREABE signed an MoU in 2016 in Ghana; the MoU was supported by a key conference declaration and a youth declaration on agribusiness. AAIN is a continent-wide network of business incubators, accelerators and associates including individuals, firms, SMEs.
- The Burundi Government
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, (Africa Region, East Africa, MENA, and Southern Africa region) (FAO)
- The African Union (AU)
- African Development Bank, specifically the ENABLE Youth Programme
- The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)
- Agripreneurship Alliance (AA)
- Sustainable Food Systems Ireland
- COMESA (Common Market for Eastern and
Southern Africa) - Agribusiness Incubation Trust (AgBIT)
- The Incubators and accelerators in Africa including national and regional economic communities to deliver AAICE 2026
Conference sponsorship for AAICE 2026 is sought at multiple levels as below;
▪ Gold - USD 25,000
Inclusive of keynote address presentation, keynote speech, panel discussions, specialized media interviews, five tickets to the Business Incubation Management (BIM) training, opportunity to host a side event, branding on all conference marketing materials and sites, fifteen tickets to the corporate networking dinner, and an exhibition booth.
▪ Premium – USD 20,000
Inclusive of participation in panel discussions, specialized media interviews, three tickets to the BIM training, opportunity to host a side event, branding across all conference marketing materials and sites, ten tickets to the corporate networking dinner, and an exhibition booth.
▪ Gold – USD 15,000
Inclusive of the exhibition space within the Expo (physical or virtual booth); and one guaranteed parallel session in the program, if desired.
▪ Silver Add-on Options:
- a) Hosting a side event – USD 2,000
- b) BIM training institutional capacity building – USD 900 (physical) or USD 500 (online) per participant c) Exhibition booth – USD 1,000
In-Kind /Cash Contributions
In-kind / Cash contributions towards venue, IT equipment, interpretation and translation services, meals, or receptions are highly encouraged and recognized. All sponsors are vetted and approved by the AAICE Conference Organizing Committee to ensure alignment with AAICE values and objectives.
Registration:
Registration: Please visit the AAIN conference website www.aain.africa/conference/
For further information, please contact us on;
Email: info@africaain.org , phionakatushabe@africaain.org , knabakembo@aain.africa
Contact: +256 779 445 593 | +257 7998 1401 | +256 787 121 715
Website: www.new.africaain.org | www.aain.africa