The African Development Bank (AfDB) has been commended by the Nigerian Young Professionals Forum (NYPF) for the creation of the Youth Entrepreneurship Development Fund.
Chairman of the forum, Moses Siasia, said that Africa needed to progress beyond giving “hand outs” to its youth population and creating sustainable engagement.
Siasia noted that the funds provided by the AfDB should go through fund managers and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), as history shows the inability of the government to effectively manage funds.
He said, “As the AfDB President, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina noted during the launch, several countries have already moved ahead to launch various sustainable youth engagement programmes, while others back home in Africa simply offer “hand-outs” to their youths.
“Hence, Africa must now move beyond “youth empowerment” to feasible youth investment and sustainable engagement.
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““In setting aside these funds, the AfDB must ensure that the funds are not domiciled in government coffers as done in the past. With recourse to past experience, Governments have never been good managers of such funds.
“The funds should rather be disbursed through responsible, Fund Managers, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), or passed down to the youths directly.”
He urged that the financial institution put in place mechanisms that would keep tabs on the movement of the disbursed funds.
“As a driver of sustainable growth and development in Africa, the AfDB should put in place mechanisms to monitor how these funds are disbursed and ensure that they get into the right hands. The AfDB should also ensure that the initiative is sustained for the youths, who themselves, are the engine for sustainable growth and development.
“While we note that the fund will boost the morale and productivity of young people in Africa and spur them to global competitiveness, we urge banks and other financial lending institutions to wake up and key into the initiative to provide young people with funding,” he said.
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