Introducing the AAA Members App

The Africa Agribusiness Academy is an entrepreneur network that stimulates and supports entrepreneurship toward increased food security in Africa. Founded in 2010, the AAA is a pan-African business platform for small and medium-sized agrifood enterprises (SMEs).

The AAA member companies share and pool their knowledge and experiences, collaborate and form partnerships, support one another and provide inspiration and guidance for current and up-and-coming agribusinesses, inside and outside of the network. The expanding AAA is currently active in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Malawi and Ethiopia, with more entrepreneurs in more countries coming on-board soon.

The AAA supports these entrepreneurs by offering capacity development and training opportunities, marketing, communication, access to finance and networking support and facilitating the collaboration and mutual learning of all members.

The AAA app

Recognizing the increasing role of technology in the world today, AAA is launching a mobile based application that will help to keep the network in touch and provide “on the go” tools, resources and knowledge for our members.

Here, we give an overview of the new “AAA Members App”.

Most smart phones today run on either Android, Windows, or Apple’s “iOS” operating systems. The AAA app can be found on all three platforms. On your smartphone, go to the relevant “app store”:

  • Android: Google Play
  • Apple: iTunes
  • Windows: Microsoft Store

For help downloading and using the app, use the resources specially made to assist you:

  1. Getting Started: Downloading, installing and accessing the app
  2. User Manual: Full description of all activities and options

Features of the app

Once you are logged in, the app takes you to the homepage where you see the main features in the app;

  • Notice Board
  • Events
  • Members’ Directory
  • Sector Desks
  • Resources
  • Blog

Depending on what you want to do, you can tap each feature and interact with it. Here is an overview of each feature:

Notice Board

In everyday life, there is always need to communicate and pass on announcements. In our offices or institutions, we have physical structures called “Notice Boards” where you can pin up any communication for all people to read. Just as it happens in everyday life, the Notice Board in this mobile app serves the same purpose.

The AAA Secretariat will be posting communication on the notice board for all members to view. You no longer have to walk to our offices, give us a call or wait for an email about important information. You can find all this available in this application.

Members can also post notices, communication or announcements for other members to view and read. This allows you to be able to seek help (technical or otherwise) from other members, report progress or invite members to an event. You can also view all notices that other members post.

Events

Under this feature, you can keep track on all upcoming events of AAA so that you can plan to attend in time. Members can also post events for their chapters. We encourage members to post in time (say a month to the event) to allow other members to plan and set aside time. While posting an event, you will be required to enter the event name, the venue, provide a description and pick a date for the event. The app will then add your event.

Members Directory

This is a very important feature that allows you to view all AAA members and their profiles. Once you tap it, it will take you to a page showing all the 6 countries AAA is currently in plus a summary of the number of members whose company profiles are available. Once you select a country, it will list all the available members in alphabetical order. In the top left corner, you will see “select sector” and you can choose which category of members you are looking for. Once you tap on a member, it will take you to their page showing their company logo, contact person name, email address, mobile number and other information such as country, town, sector and company description. From the directory, you can email a member or call them to inquire about their company or to get any answers that you seek. You can also send a member a message by clicking on the blue message icon.

With this member’s directory, we hope we shall improve networking and build synergy among members of AAA in all our countries of operation.

Sector Desks

The app has divided members in broad sectors that try to capture the interests/fields of various members. Once you tap on this feature, it will take you to a page displaying the various sectors.  Under this, you can participate in discussion forums, post topics for discussions and comment on topics posted.

Once you tap on a sector, it will display for you all the discussions going on under there. If you are interested in posting a topic for discussion, there is a “+” sign in the bottom right corner that you can tap and it takes you to a page where you add a discussion topic, a description, and an image. In order to comment on an ongoing discussion, you open it and scroll down where you can add your input.

Resources

Under resources, members are able to access Business Bulletins, reports, “Success Stories” and educational materials. Once you tap on any of the resources, you will be prompted to download the resource. The app will not download resources without you allowing it, so as to save your bandwidth and data.

Here, there is an exceptionally wide range of knowledge freely accessible by all members on the app.

Blog

The app also has a built-in blog feature which allows members to read a wide range of articles and features written by AAA, invited guests and experts as well as other members. This could be a success story, a new insight into working practices or any such knowledge that you feel like sharing with members. To add an article to the blog, you click on the “+” sign in the bottom right corner that takes you to a page where you feed in the blog title, text and add an image and save.

Our commitment is to stimulate entrepreneurship and increase food security in Africa and we believe that in order to achieve this, we have to innovate and put in place resources, systems and structures that enable people to access knowledge, training and a network in which they can be empowered to increase productivity. The world now recognizes the vital role that entrepreneurs in our sector play and therefore it is our mission to continue abutting this relevance.

Go ahead today and download the AAA app to help you be in touch with a supportive network of people and resources from which you can thrive.

For more information contact: