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By Jimoh Babatunde
Global investors, political leaders and the business community have been urged to put their capital at risk for young Africans.
The President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, who launched the appeal, said that it was time for African governments to start moving from youth empowerment to "poverty reduction". youth investment. He spoke at a panel discussion held at the Tony Elumelu Foundation's (TEF) Entrepreneurship Forum in Abuja.
The panel discussion, moderated by CNN host Fareed Zakaria, was a key session of the largest gathering of entrepreneurs ever held in Africa.
The audience included Rwandan President Paul Kagame, DRC President Felix Tshisekedi, Senegalese President Macky Sall and Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
Adesina proposed the creation of entrepreneurship and youth investment banks to meet the growing and urgent needs of young entrepreneurs.
"A bank in which you can see badets, not liabilities, where it has confidence in young people," he said. He also called for reducing the risks badociated with business loans for young people.
Tony O. Elumelu founded the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) in 2010 with the aim of removing the obstacles facing African entrepreneurs their national growth companies in African multinationals.
The African Development Bank has spearheaded the continent's efforts to create jobs and improve the livelihoods of young people. It approved $ 7.5 million in funding for business support organizations such as TEF and other incubators, accelerators and financial institutions.
The EWB Entrepreneurship Program also aligns with the objectives of the African Development Bank, whose Jobs for Young People Strategy in Africa aims to help African countries create 25 million jobs and empower 50 million young people by 2025.
President Adesina had previously held a breakfast with Nigerian business leaders during which he and President Tshisekedi had called for investments for the DRC, particularly in the country 's electricity sector.
The DRC, which supplies about 50% of the world's cobalt, also has huge amounts of other natural resources, including gold, oil and copper, most of which remain largely untapped. A study conducted in 2009 showed that the country has mineral resources worth $ 24 trillion.
President Adesina referred to the 100,000 MW Inga hydropower project in the DRC, saying it could potentially meet the continent's energy needs and could speed up trade and development, as stipulated in the zone agreement. Continental Free Trade Agreement. The project also aligns with the Bank's top priority, "Light Up and Power Africa," he said.
"If we can help the Democratic Republic of Congo unlock the potential of Inga, Africa will benefit," he added.
The Tony Elumelu Foundation selects 3,050 entrepreneurs for the 2019 program(Opens in a new browser tab)
President Tshisekedi announced that his government was considering hosting companies wishing to invest in his country, including introducing visas upon arrival.
"I am convinced that in the next ten years, Africa will be an engine, not in terms of military power, but in terms of economic power," said the DRC leader.
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