Straight talking Bolanle Austen-Peters, Founder of Terra Kulture and BAP Productions, questioned the resolve of African decision makers to empower the youth stating: ‘If we cannot provide the means for the youth to achieve the dreams of the AfCFTA, what are we really telling them about these agreements we sign designed to benefit them?”
She started off a session that aimed to bring life the 29th Afreximbank Annual Meetings 2022’s theme, ‘Realising the AfCFTA Potential in the Post COVID-19 Era – Leveraging the Power of the Youth’.
Africa is endowed with great youthful entrepreneurial spirit and the continent is forecast to have 950 million people aged 24 or less by 2050. For Bolanle, for them to not only do good, but also do well, investment in their education, especially on the goals of the AfCFTA and how it affects them will be key to propel them to the next level, along with better infrastructure and the provision of finance for them to cross borders and start innovative businesses across the continent. And supporting her argument, Africa need look no further than how the youth responded to the continent’s problems during the pandemic.
Over the pandemic, young Africans proved they could act quickly to devise immediate solutions to prevailing challenges. One of the most innovative solutions they provided was using their knowledge of technology to organise and deliver vital information on Covid-19. For example, Nigerian Isaac Olufadewa produced ‘Stop Covid-19’ infographics in more than sixty local African languages to spread accurate information about the pandemic from his organisation The Slum and Rural Health Initiative. This is merely one example of how the youth can impact lives across borders, and the AfCFTA can make that work.
Commenting in a panel discussion, Ms. Marlene Ngoyi, the Chief Executive Officer of the Fund for Export-Development in Africa (FEDA), Afreximbank’s development-oriented subsidiary, said, “The youth are the main consumers of Africa’s goods and services. They are also the main tax contributors for African countries and thus drive local economies. It is therefore absolutely unacceptable for Africa to leave its youth without job opportunities and not care about their purchasing power.”
And as the AfCFTA heads into its next implementation phase, it is vital that governments take into consideration how youth voices can be included in the march to empower them. The AfCFTA policy document promises to harness innovative ideas, solutions and actions from the youth to solve continental challenges.
To achieve this, the following will need to be taken into account:
- Facilitating market access for their goods and services
- Access to patient finance and smart capital to drive their innovations
- Inclusion in decisions made that take account of their interests and voices
- Mitigating tensions arising from intraregional and international migration
- Continuous sensitisation targeted at the youth showcasing the opportunities the agreement offers
- Fortifying youth networks and business support organisations to ensure the youth are not overrepresented
Ms. Marlene Ngoyi, CEO of FEDA continued that, “Through FEDA, Afreximbank has committed to investing in patient finance and smart capital targeted at enterprises especially run by the youth. FEDA has provided a debt fund and most importantly, we are working on the Early Venture Fund to scale up businesses. These are some of the instruments that will drive the youth’s participation in implementing the AfCFTA and, by design, empowering them in the process.’’
In 2021, Afreximbank announced funding and technical support to the Youth Alliance for Leadership and Development in Africa (YALDA), an international nonprofit that provides a platform for African youth, encouraging them to participate in the implementation of the AfCFTA. Under a campaign named the ‘Umoja Africa Campaign – Youth Contributing to the Implementation of the AfCFTA’, YALDA uses various platforms to create awareness of the concepts, benefits and opportunities that are available to young people through regional integration and intra-Africa trade.
Young people are a phenomenal power in responding to Africa’s current challenges and they offer much needed hope, especially when partnered with banks, governments and civil societies. Their empowerment is essential.