Food Systems · AI · Ecosystem Building

Africa's next
food systems era
needs leaders who
can build it.

I work with innovation partners and founders navigating the intersection of African food systems, AI-enabled tools, and ecosystem infrastructure — from strategy to working prototypes.

Start a conversation See the work
67K+ LinkedIn followers
$25M Startup hub led (Norrsken Kigali)
800K Health app users scaled in 6 months
350+ Entrepreneurs supported across 9 countries
Nairobi Kigali Wageningen Pan-African

What I do

Where I can help

I bring 14+ years of operational depth and continental relationships to engagements that range from months-long strategy to rapid prototyping sprints.

Food Systems Strategy

From CAADP alignment to pan-African programme design. I help organisations translate policy ambition into operational reality — across value chains, geographies, and stakeholder coalitions.

  • AU/CAADP alignment
  • Programme architecture
  • Coalition building

AI Prototyping for Emerging Markets

From on-device LLMs for offline cooperatives to WhatsApp-native business tools for agri-SMEs. I bridge the gap between AI capability and the real constraints of operating across the continent.

  • Offline-first AI tools
  • WhatsApp integrations
  • Agri-tech pilots

Ecosystem Building & Mentorship

I've built Africa's largest startup hub and coached hundreds of early-stage founders. For accelerators, fellowships, and innovation hubs looking for curriculum design, mentorship, or leadership transitions.

  • Accelerator design
  • Founder coaching
  • Leadership transitions

Europe–Africa Partnerships

Dual Dutch-Rwandan with deep networks on both sides. I help European DFIs, foundations, and impact investors navigate African food and agri-tech markets — and connect African ventures to European capital.

  • DFI navigation
  • Partnership brokering
  • Market entry

Selected work

Evidence, not claims

Ecosystem Building 2021–2024

Built Africa's largest startup hub from an abandoned school

Led the end-to-end setup of Norrsken Kigali — a $25M innovation campus in Rwanda that grew to support 350+ entrepreneurs in agrifood, climate tech, and logistics. Managed the full transition from European to African leadership and drove digital agriculture and climate tech pilot deployments across East and Central Africa. The hub was featured by Forbes, CNN, BBC, and TechCrunch.

$25MProject value
350+Entrepreneurs housed
4Countries covered
Food Systems Strategy 2026–Present

Scaling a pan-African food systems leadership network to the CAADP Decade

As Executive Director of the African Food Fellowship, leading a network of 280+ food system leaders across Kenya and Rwanda. Developing an investment case — co-presented with the African Union — to mobilise blended capital from DFIs, Gulf Sovereign Wealth Funds, philanthropies, and diaspora investors, aligned with the AU CAADP 2026-2035 framework.

280+Leaders in network
AUCo-convened with
AI Prototyping 2024–Present

Designing AI-native tools for African agri-SMEs and cooperatives

Co-founded Joble B.V. to build AI and automation solutions for smallholder-adjacent businesses in Rwanda, Ivory Coast, and Nigeria. Explored architectures for offline-first on-device LLMs for cooperative field advisors, and WhatsApp-native business assistants serving the 61% of African small businesses that use WhatsApp as their primary sales channel.

3African markets
WhatsAppPrimary channel
Founding 2014–2015

Founded Rwanda's first (and still largest) potato processing company

Co-founded Winnaz Potato Chips, directly linking farming family roots to industrial food processing. Established manufacturing processes, led product development, and executed go-to-market strategy — demonstrating the viability of local value addition in African agriculture and inspiring a generation of agripreneurs.

#1Largest potato processor in Rwanda
FirstOf its kind in Rwanda
Scale & Growth 2016–2017

Scaled a digital health platform to 800,000 users in 6 months

As Commercial Director at Babylon Health Rwanda, managed the product launch and scaled telemedicine from zero to 800,000 users through targeted outreach, mass media campaigns, and integration with Rwanda's national health services. One of the fastest digital health rollouts in Sub-Saharan Africa.

800KUsers in 6 months
NationalHealth system integration
Mentorship 2024–Present

Lead Coach for Mastercard Foundation Scholars agripreneurs

Selected as Lead Coach for cohorts of young agripreneurs from Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Somalia, Rwanda, and Tanzania. Provides business model refinement, capacity-building, and strategic guidance for early-stage agricultural enterprises — alongside lecturing at universities in The Hague and Amsterdam on food systems innovation and entrepreneurship.

6Countries represented
MF ScholarsProgramme

About

Grown up in farming.
Grown into systems.

I grew up in a farming family in Rwanda. That background — the daily negotiation between soil, weather, market, and policy — is the lens I bring to every engagement. Not just a strategic framework, but a felt understanding of what it takes to build something that lasts at the smallholder level.

Over 14 years, I've moved from cooperative project officer to founding Rwanda's first potato processing company, to scaling a digital health platform, to leading Africa's largest startup hub, to now directing a pan-African food systems leadership network.

I'm a dual Dutch-Rwandan citizen, fluent in English, French, Kinyarwanda, and Swahili, with emerging Dutch. I operate from Wageningen, with active presence in Nairobi and Kigali.

African Food Fellowship Executive Director
Mastercard Foundation Scholars Lead Coach & Mentor
Wageningen University Postgraduate, Food Systems Performance
Swedish Inst. of Management Postgraduate, Leadership & Business Sustainability
Joble B.V. Co-Founder, AI & Agri-SME tools
Univ. of Applied Sciences NL Lecturer, Business & Entrepreneurship

Pascal Murasira

Executive Director, African Food Fellowship

67,000+ followers on LinkedIn

Also active in

  • African Union policy forums
  • Davos / World Economic Forum
  • GFAiR — Global Forum for Agricultural Innovation
  • Norrsken Foundation network
  • Netherlands Food Partnership

Contact

Let's talk about what you're building

I take a small number of advisory and consulting engagements alongside my work at AFF. If you're working on Africa-focused food systems strategy, AI tools for the continent, ecosystem infrastructure, or bridging European capital with African ventures, reach out.

I respond to serious inquiries within 2–3 business days. Please include context on your organisation and what you're trying to solve.

Based in Wageningen, NL  ·  +31 6 407 79 547

pascal.murasira@gmail.com
or
Connect on LinkedIn

Best for: strategy engagements, advisory roles, keynote invitations, partnership inquiries, and media requests.