My first ever international trip was to Kigali, the capital of Rwanda to attend my first international conference, YouthConnekt Africa 2022. The three-day conference brought together over 2000 youths in Africa and beyond to discuss issues on the theme “Accelerating Investment in Youth; A Resilient Youth, A Resilient Africa and Network.
During the opening ceremony, the president of Rwanda, H. E Paul Kagame stated that “Africa is not a continent of problems; we just don’t know how to use our resources. This is why we need the youth to connect every year and share success and knowledge because, they are equal partners to development”. Africa has many problems today because they do not invest a lot in their youths, but rather seek to empower them only. Empowering young people without investing in them is like working hard without a purpose.
I learnt that, the youth of Africa are innovative and industrious and therefore, need to be invested in and supported to become more resilient. The Country Rwanda is resilient in every aspect of development because of their youth focused initiatives. The deliberate inclusion of youth in Governance has brought them this far and is by far recommended as the best practice for every African leader to adopt, for the well-being of its country and citizens.
The gracing of the occasion by the Deputy President of Kenya gave us an opportunity to learn other good practices, as he delivered a speech on the above theme. He explained that “Appointing young people into governance, has given us a beacon of hope that, African leaders are ready to develop Africa in a tremendous and youthful way, and that we can’t build the future for the youth but build the future with the youth; hence, making them more resilient for a resilient Africa”. This message got me thinking on how the youth of Ghana can become resilient??
My first session at the Youth Policy; Building Entrepreneurial Leadership, exposed me to great ideas that can be perused to lead change. Success stories from young people inspired me to embark on entrepreneurship for personal growth and also to give back to my society. I had an opportunity with a mentor who is willing to guide me along this route. I was persuaded during this session that “The youth need to be invested on and not only empowered”. Because despite participating in numerous empowerment programs, I haven’t been creative enough.
At the second session on the topic “Delivery Innovative Financing for Youth Enterprises in Africa,” I learnt that we as Africans, should find a sustainable and innovative way to finance youth enterprises to maximize development in Africa.
The concluding session for the conference was on “Youth Advocacy,” which was delivered by the Africa Union Youth Team (AUYT). I learnt other tools and strategies different countries use in their advocacy work to achieve great results.
I also had the chance to walk them through some of the advocacy tactics the Ghana Youth Task Team employs in their advocacy program, as well as the enormous success we have already seen.
The Ghana Youth Task Team is under the African Youth Partnership, which is been implemented by YOTA and RESTLESS DEVELOPMENT in 10 Africa countries and funded by Ford Foundation.
The exciting aspects of Rwanda were the cultural shocks I experienced, the amazing time I had while I was there, and the networking opportunities during the conference. I had the chance to interact with young people from many nations and learn about the incredible things they accomplish.
Africa does indeed have resources, and the resources are the young people! And investing in resources entails advancing development.
