By PPS
NAIROBI, KENYA: President Uhuru Kenyatta has called for the empowerment of the youth in Africa to allow them exploit and harness the potential of the continent.
Noting that the youth form 70 per cent of the population, the President said there is need to mainstream the youth in all crucial sectors.
He spoke on Friday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, while reacting to comments and questions from youth drawn from the continent during a youth forum to address Africa’s transformational agenda as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Organisation of African Unity/African Union.
President Uhuru said in a bid to mainstream youth affairs in his Government, each Cabinet Secretary is required, upon commencement of their duties, to show how they intend to involve the youth in their programmes and activities.
New technologies
Uhuru said in order to nurture the culture of innovativeness and creativity among the youth driven, the Government is promoting youth-driven new technologies such as MPesa.
At the same time, the President said the Government has also made deliberate efforts to assist the youth by directing that 30 per cent of public procurement be granted to youth enterprises in order to create opportunity for them to grow in the world of business and create employment.
The President added that in a bid to address the interests of vulnerable groups such as youth with disabilities, the Government had set aside resources to ensure they access fund to cater for their needs.
Addressing the forum, Africa Union Commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said the creativity and innovation of the million African youth could be used to unlock the development agenda of Africa.
She challenged the youth across the continent to debate and give views on the Africa they wished to see in 50 years while stating the role they want to play in shaping the development agenda of the continent. She also urged intellectuals, political leaders, activists and all Africans to engage in similar debates and forward their views to the union for presentation and deliberation during the January 2014 AU Heads of State and Government Summit.
The Youth Forum was organised by the African Union Commission’s Youth Division in partnership with the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) as part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations.
The main aim of the forum is to seize the opportunity of the OAU/AU celebrations and provide a platform for dialogue between selected African Heads of State and Government as well as young people on major policy initiatives.
