Agatha Christiana Johnson

Africaribe Group

Trainer

Ms. Agatha Johnson is a a micro, small and medium-size enterprise/business development services specialist. She holds a master's of professional studies/international development (MPS/ID) degree, majoring in development planning from Cornell University, Ithaca, New York; a post-graduate diploma in natural resource management and mineral economics from the Colorado School of Mines; a post-graduate diploma in science education and a Bachelor of Science (BSc.) with Honors degree in Geology from the University of Sierra Leone.

She specializes in enterprise development as well as agri-business development, especially in the area of value chain management. With her background in mining and mineral economics, she is quite knowledgeable on mining value chains and supply chains and how the local communities can benefit from mining operations by setting up viable businesses in various supply chains.

She served as program advisor to Africa Lead, Sierra Leone and was also a master trainer and a training consultant to Development Alternatives International/Africa Lead/USAID programmes, pursuant to which she has undertaken training in Sierra Leone, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia and Senegal. She has also served as an MSME trainer to DAI/USAID’ Food and Enterprise Development Programme (FED), Liberia in 4 Value Chains of Rice, Cassava, Goats and Vegetables (March 2012 - March 2013). She trained, mentored and presented business plans for several SMEs for equity financing from the West Africa Venture Fund – an IFC, World Bank and Cordaid, the Netherlands Initiative (October – December, 2019).

Agatha was an IFC Business Edge trainer and a master trainer for the Africa Lead/USAID Agri-Business Leadership Training in several African countries, prior to the discontinuation of both programs by IFC and USAID in 2018 and 2019, respectively.

Since 2015, she has been a mentor to winners of the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Program (TEEP) by helping them develop their business plans. Between December 2018 and February 2019, as Project Lead of a GIZ project secured by AFRICARIBE (SL) Ltd., Agatha Johnson led the development of training modules and offered a business development services (BDS) master Training of Trainers course to over 100 SLECAD members, MAF and SMEDA participants in Kenema, BO and Makeni under GIZ sponsorship.

In January 2020, Agatha attended the IFC-LPI TOT in Freetown, Sierra Leone.