The convener ,Africa Youth Leadership & Entrepreneurship (AYLEC),Mr. Olowolayemo Lawrence Riches has described the recent enlistment of Nigeria into the YouthConnekt Africa Hub as a good omen .
Nigeria’s signing-up process began at Inspiration Care and Development Center’s Annual Pan African Youth Leadership and Entrepreneurship Conference (AYLEC) in Rwanda.
YouthConnekt is a platform designed to connect African youth for socio-economic transformation. Nigeria became the 31st member state to join the YouthConnekt Africa Hub.
Recall that In 2021 ,Lawrence Riches led some of the youth delegates to pay a courtesy visit to the Honorable Minister of Youth and Culture Republic of Rwanda, Hon. Mrs. Rosemary Mbabazi, and the team were received by the Executive Director of YouthConnekt Hub Mrs. Oulie Keita on behalf of the Honorable Minister.
Part of the commitments of the team was to work with all relevant stakeholders to bring Nigeria on board. Mrs. Oulie Kieta appreciated the efforts put together by these Nigerians and the willingness of the Ministry of Youth and Sports and UNDP Nigeria for providing the technical and financial support to drive this program.
Earlier in May 2022, Inspiration Care and Development Center (ICDC) hosted 100 young African social change leaders across 30 African countries at the second Edition of the African Youth Leadership and Entrepreneurship Conference (AYLEC) in partnership with Rwanda Ministry of Youth and Culture, YouthConneckt Hub Africa Rwanda, Center for Entrepreneurship and Evaluation Development Ghana and other local partners.
This second edition was held under the Theme “Exploring Africa’s Possibilities and Opportunities Beyond Borders” this theme become important looking at the current trends happening within the African continents and the need to invest and create more opportunities for young people to achieve the Africa Dream come the year 2063.
In lead up to the conference, consultations with relevant stakeholders and feedback from the last edition of AYLEC revealed the following six sub-themes as important areas of policy-making. These themes were used as breakout groups for presentation and panel discussion during the conference:
Education and Skills Development,Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship
Governance, Peace and Security,Youth involvement in the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA),Agriculture, Climate Change and the Environment and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
The three-day instructor-led conference introduced participants to new perspectives and practices to exercise leadership for social change and economic development in Africa. Also, the sessions were tailored towards equipping participants with skills for the future of work and connecting them with values from other African countries which will serve as a support system for future engagement.