Jean Philbert Nsengimana, Minister of Youth and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) of Rwanda, speaks during the opening ceremony of YouthConnekt Africa Summit in Kigali, capital of Rwanda, on July 20, 2017. Delegates attending the inaugural of YouthConnekt Africa Summit in Kigali on Thursday called on African countries to enhance the potential of young Africans in order to achieve a prosperous continent. (Xinhua/Li Baishun)
KIGALI, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Delegates attending the inaugural of YouthConnekt Africa Summit in Rwandan capital Kigali on Thursday called on African countries to harness the potential of young Africans in order to achieve a prosperous continent.
They made the call during the official opening of the three-day summit, which is organized by the government of Rwanda, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The summit from July 19 to 21 is dubbed: "Realizing Africa's Youth Potential."
The summit attracted about 2,800 participants including top executives from multinational companies that operate in Africa, leaders of civil society organizations, Africa's development partners, members of the academia, successful entrepreneurs, youth entrepreneurs, members of startup companies, artists and youth opinion leaders from 90 countries across Africa and beyond to interact and discuss on enhancing the potential of the youth in Africa, according to the organizers.
"This is the time to bridge the gap between African youth and the limitless opportunities the continent offers. Let us all deliver the Africa we want by investing in our young people," said Jean Philbert Nsengimana, Minister of Youth and ICT of Rwanda.
He said by 2020, at least 54 million jobs will need to have been created in Africa in order to absorb the growing labor force from young people.
"To contribute to that target, YouthConnekt Africa Program alone aims to oversee the creation of 10 million jobs and this will be achievable if we put our young people at the centre stage of inclusive and sustainable development," Nsengimana emphasized.
YouthConnekt Africa is a result of an initiative launched in 2012 by the government of Rwanda and UNDP. In 2016, 14 countries in Africa expressed interest in the scale up of the initiative.
It is designed to realize Africa's demographic dividend by combining elements of skills development, entrepreneurship, access to jobs and finance, awareness raising on issues related to youth development, and promotion of youth citizenship and leadership, said the organizers.
By changing mindsets, engaging youth in national policy, fostering solidarity, engaging youth in delivering SDGs, YouthConnekt Africa will empower 200 million African youth to take a more proactive role in shaping their future, according to the organizers.
The first YouthConnekt Africa Summit is expected to initiate the rollout of the program across the continent.
The summit will also mark the launch of the YouthConnekt Africa Hub, which will offer regional support to national YouthConnekt Programs and the YouthConnekt Africa Empowerment Fund, an initiative to empower young people in Africa to impact their communities.
According to the Sustainable Development Goals Center for Africa, 18 million jobs will need to be created each year until 2035 and 54 million jobs by 2020.
UNDP assistant administrator and director of the Regional Bureau for Africa Abdoulaye Mar Diye said that presently, around 200 million of the 1.2 billion Africans are youth aged between 15 and 24 years who need to be well groomed and nurtured for the better future of Africa.
Statistics of the World Bank indicated that Africa also has the highest youth unemployment rate in the world, which stands at 60 percent.
"Creating jobs for the youth and enhancing their potential should be made a priority by African leaders and policy makers. It is essential that we urgently tackle youth unemployment in order to fully realize their potential," he added.
Chinese Billionaire Jack Ma, one of the world's leading entrepreneurs, founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group is also expected to be among key guest speakers at the event, alongside Rwandan President Paul Kagame, secretary general of UNCTAD Mukhisa Kituyi and Senegalese-American Rapper, Aliaume Damala Badara Akon Thiam.
