Africa by establishing a Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Bank .The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the state of African youth, who face a myriad of socio-economic challenges due to unemployment, lack of education and access to finance.
Harnessing the entrepreneurial potential of Africa’s youth as a powerful engine and demographic dividend holds great potential for sustainable development on the continent. However, they lack appropriate financing mechanisms and capacity-building facilities.
To address these constraints, the African Development Bank is developing a proposal to establish Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Banks.
More agile and tailored service providers are thus needed to develop and offer suitable and accessible financial and non-financial products and services for youth entrepreneurs. Such institutions must address the real and perceived risks associated with financing the target group during their life cycle. They must also ensure accessibility and affordability of these services to deliver real impact on the ground. This requires financial instruments and incentives to de-risk and support local equity and equity-like investors and banks to develop and offer relevant and affordable products, mentorship, and a strengthening of, and a better coordination between, local technical support providers.
Participants discuss the early stage proposal for Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Banks, with a focus on its rationale and resource requirements.- President Adesina AFDB
- Mr. Jean Michel Severino CEO of Investisseurs et Partenaires
- Mr. Ashish Thakkar, President, Mara Group and current Chair of the AFDB Presidential Youth Committee.
- Ms. Arancha González Laya, Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, Spain
- Mr. Papa Amadou Sarr, Minister, General Delegate for Women and Youth Entrepreneurship, Presidency of the Republic of Senegal.
- Mr. Jean-Philippe Prosper, Independent Director, former Vice-President for Africa, International Finance Corporation
- Mr. Ladi Balogun, CEO of First City Monument Bank Group (FCMB)
- Yana Kakar, Global Managing Partner Emeritus, Dalberg Advisors
- Ms. Yvonne Otieno, CEO, Miyonga Fresh Greens Ent Ltd
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