About Speaker

Usman Ali Lawan is an expert in entrepreneurship and agribusiness development. He founded USAIFA International Limited in 2013, a sustainable farming venture that practices and promotes zero waste agriculture. Lawan also founded Farmer-In-Suit, an online Agric investment platform which crowdsources funding and uses it to provide farm input credit, extension services and links to markets for smallholder farmers in a profit-sharing arrangement. He has more than 13 years experience working on zero-waste agriculture, while providing training and mentorship to a network of 7,250 smallholder farmers across 4 states in Nigeria - most of them women and youths. Lawan holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration: Agribusiness Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and a Masters in Energy Studies and Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. He is a Senior Fellow of the Aspen New Voices Fellowship and a recipient of the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders. Lawan is also a Tony Elumelu Entrepreneur.