Nature-First Innovation Lab selects five African enterprises for accelerator

Five African enterprises have been selected for the inaugural cohort of the Nature-First Innovation Lab (NFIL), a 12-month accelerator program designed to help nature-positive businesses attract investment. The initiative is run by FSD Africa in partnership with Systemiq and the African Natural Capital Alliance (ANCA), with funding from UK International Development and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad).

The program aims to prepare the selected companies to raise a combined investment target of approximately $10 million. The enterprises operate across Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Tanzania, focusing on regenerative agriculture, sustainable forestry, and organic waste conversion.

The selected businesses include:

• Acacia EPZ (Kenya): An exporter of conflict-free gum arabic. • ForestFoods (Kenya): An agroforestry group utilizing syntropic farming methods. • Forested (Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda): A supplier of regenerative honey, beeswax, and shea butter. • NovFeed (Tanzania): A company converting organic waste into fish feed and fertilizer. • Savanna Agri Chains (Ghana): A source and exporter of shea butter and baobab.

Organizers noted that while many African enterprises demonstrate technical feasibility, they often struggle to secure commercial funding due to gaps in governance, documentation, and revenue anchoring.