Why Barrack Obama is pitching for Africa's youth

President Uhuru Kenyatta with World Bank President Dr Jim Yong Kim at the World Bank Building in Washington DC on Thursday. [PHOTO: PSCU]

Kenya: The US-Africa Leaders Summit ended in the American capital after a historic gathering billed the biggest ever get-together.

African leaders came in good numbers - the young, the middle-aged, the old, and the dictators alike - to try and pitch for a slice of the American investments themed “Investing in the Future”. And there was good reason for the youth to stand out.

The meeting was preceded by a delegation of youthful people who attended the Young African Leaders Initiative Fellowship, now renamed the Mandela Washington Fellowship, which benefited 500 people this year and targets 1,000 more next year.

President Barack Obama was clear in his message: the youth are the future of Africa. It came on the week Obama celebrated his 53rd birthday. He noted that over 60 per cent of Africa’s population is aged 30 and below.

For the Obama administration, Africa’s growth depends, first and foremost, on continued reforms in Africa, by Africans and the youth play a pivotal role.

“Africa’s prosperity depends on Africa’s greatest resource...its people. And I’ve been encouraged by the desire of leaders here to partner with us in supporting young entrepreneurs, including through our Young African Leaders Initiative. I think there’s an increasing recognition that if countries are going to reach their full economic potential, then they have to invest in women, their education, their skills, and protect them from gender-based violence,” Obama said.

Four leadership centres will be created in Kenya, South Africa, Ghana and Senegal. The centres will provide opportunities for training in quality leadership and professional development. It is a move aimed at generational support for young leaders.

Over 40 Kenyans have already benefited through short-term fellowships that exposed them to some American universities to expand their leadership skills and knowledge.

Each leadership centre will be run as a public-private partnership capitalising on the energy and dynamism of the private sector, the knowledge of African and American institutions, the programmatic and educational resources of the US Government, according White House briefs.

MULTIPLE SECTORS

Obama said the training centres will provide quality leadership through long and short-term courses on leadership and issues across multiple sectors and back entrepreneurship services, including mentoring, technology and access to capital for  businesses.

The US Government also seeks to enhance professional networking by offering young leaders the opportunity to connect with each other and link with American counterparts.

 

The strategy includes a vast array of online classes and resources along with seed funding, mentoring and networking opportunities. A kitty of US$38 million (over Sh3 billion) has been set aside for the creation of programmes in the regional centres.

The good news is American and African companies and foundations have bought into the idea and have more than matched the funds committed by USAid for start-up costs.

Among the firms that have supported these youth centres are MasterCard Foundation which will provide support over the next five years.

There is also financial and in kind contributions from Microsoft, Dow Chemical Company, Intel Corporation and Cisco systems. Other companies backing the initiative include General Electric, Atlas Mara, McKinsey and company.

At the close of the conference, Obama's parting shot was: “As I think everyone knows by now, this first US-Africa Leaders Summit has been the largest gathering we’ve ever hosted with African heads of state and government and that includes about 50 motorcades. So I want to begin by thanking the people of Washington DC for helping us host this historic event and especially for their patience with the traffic.”

It is a new partnership the US is forging as it changes its policy from humanitarian and military support to pragmatic partnerships aimed at expanding trade with African countries.

Kenya was singled out for a fresh leadership centre, which will have a robust training curriculum in a direction that brings a partnership with Deloitte, a global management and strategy skills, the established curriculum and capacity of Kenyatta University, the public administration training of Kenya School of Government and Africa Nazarene university.

Kenya has been a beneficiary of the Africa Growth Opportunities Act (Agoa ) started in 2000 under former US President Bill Clinton and has mainly exported textile products which are finished in Athi River Export processing zones.

Industrialisation Minister Adan Mohammed says the textile industry has been employing 30,000 people, mainly youths, and needs to be expanded.

President Obama announced over Sh2 trillion in new trade and investments to help spur African development and support tens of thousands of American jobs.