Young Africans have called for more freedom and opportunities to propel the socio-economic growth of the continent as thousands of them took part in the 2021 Youth Connekt Africa summit held in Ghana’s capital, Accra.
The annual convening event connects youth from across the continent and beyond with policy influencers, political and industry leaders among others on accelerating youth empowerment efforts in Africa.
This is the first time the summit is being held outside of Rwanda, where it first started as the brainchild of President Paul Kagame.
Youth Connekt Africa summit which has now grown bigger and has been adopted by the African Union is now considered the largest pan-African youth-oriented program that seeks relevant solutions for youth socio-economic development.
Participants at the three-day event engaged in various sessions that focused on Africa beyond aid and post Covid-19 pandemic recovery strategy. They however want more freedom and opportunities as they demand active participation in political and policy decision-making processes across the continent and get them involved in finding solutions to the continent’s problem. One female participant told DW that “Honestly speaking young people are empowered, they just need the space to operate. They just need that opportunity to put up the little and even the more that they have. They just need that space to operate.”
Another male participant was also quoted as saying that Africa’s growth led by young people “boils down to mindset change and the willingness of African leaders to have the young ones grow and stop giving contracts to people who are over age and they are not making way for the young ones to take their positions and even grow in it.”
Ghana’s Vice President, Dr. Bawumia told the delegates that Africa’s youth still struggle to secure jobs, something that requires serious attention. “The youth account for sixty percent of all of Africa’s unemployed. For those that manage to find work, they do not do so in a place that pays a good wage or develops their skills, or provides a measure of job security.
No one needs to tell us that mass unemployment in Africa especially among her youth is a ticking time bomb,” Bawumia said. There have been several conversations around empowering young people to lead the innovation agenda of the continent at this summit.
Business professionals, governments, and investors at this event have agreed that more needs to be done to create opportunities for young Africans to exert their talents and energies in ventures that put them to work and grow the economy.
Source: Africafeeds.com
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