This archive report was first published on 8 December 2019.
At the Kusi Ideas Festival in Kigali, Rwanda, a panel discussion on how to turn Africa's population explosion into an economic boom highlighted the need for African governments to give the youth opportunities for development.
Dr. Donald Kaberuka, former president of the African Development Bank, emphasized the importance of equal access to opportunities, stating, "The biggest equalizer is access to education. It is not just the number of kids we're sending to school, but the learning outcomes. The next 60 years are not going to be the same as the last 60, the market is different."
Ms. Sylvia Mulinge, chief customer officer at Safaricom, noted that creating opportunities for the youth is a challenge, but highlighted the potential of digital jobs, saying, "There is an opportunity in creating digital jobs. As it is, you cannot have a strong company in a weak society. Private companies have a responsibility to support government's efforts in creating these opportunities."
Ms. Bintu Zahara Sakor, an Africa and Norwegian researcher and data analyst at the Peace Research Institute Oslo, urged African leaders and opinion shapers to put aside ethnic divisions and work together to safeguard the young people's economic future, saying, "African states need to work more closely to get a united outfit. We can only achieve this through educating the youth."
Dr. Carlos Lopez, honorary professor at the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, University of Cape Town, argued that with the right policies, the future of the youth would be secured, stating, "Africans are living longer and fertility is going down, we need to produce rather than consume only. This is how to secure the future of the continent and its young people."
Dr. Agnes Kalibata, president of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, emphasized the importance of food security in securing the continent's future, saying, "We all know that hunger is the result of political inaction. It took Rwanda only three years to reduce the percentage of people that were food insecure from 55 per cent to 21 per cent. The country has worked hard in guaranteeing its people's secure economic future. Other African governments can copy this."
Published on December 8, 2019
