Pan-African youth empowerment initiative launched at WEF

A youth empowerment initiative was launched on Thursday on the sidelines of the ongoing 2015 World Economic Forum on Africa (WEF Africa).

With 4.5 million U.S. dollars, the Youth Empowered for Success (YES!) is to reach 25,000 young Africans across six countries within three years.

The program will empower marginalized youth and leverage technology and strategic partnerships to accelerate and scale the initiative to provide opportunities to many more youth across the continent, said Nathan Kalumbu, Chairman of the Coca Cola Africa Foundation, which funds the program.

Over 10-12 million young Africans are entering the workforce each year, yet less than half this number of employment opportunities are currently available, figures show.

"The Youth Empowered for Success initiative presents an exciting framework to help drive truly transformational change for young people in Africa," said Kalumbu.

"The potential to connect young people with the right opportunities to build better lives while strengthening their communities is incredibly compelling," he said.

Today 40 million African youth are out of work, and young Africans continue to enter the workforce at a faster rate than jobs are created, according to Neal Keny-Guyer, Chief Executive Officer of Mercy Corps, which partners with the Coca-Cola Africa Foundation.

"We are looking forward to helping even more young people in Africa find employment and build long-term financial stability for themselves and for their families," Keny-Guyer said.

The program will address critical development and life skills for 18-35 years old unemployed and underemployed young Africans, and provide access to sustainable economic opportunities created through employment or entrepreneurship.

Youth empowerment was highlighted at the WEF Africa.

Opening the forum in Cape Town, South African President Jacob Zuma urged African countries to give a role to the youth to play.

"In our history the youth has played a very important role in contributing to and shaping South Africa, and they will continue to do so," Zuma said.

He stressed the importance for African countries to have programs to incorporate young people into the economy and empower them to lead.

Africa has the largest labor force, mainly comprising the youth.

It is estimated that by 2040, Africa's youth will make up 50 percent of the world's young population, said Klaus Schwab, founder and Executive Chairman of the WEF, who was chairing the opening session.

In Africa, 18 million jobs are expected to be created on the continent annually to absorb the young people entering the labor market, Zuma said.

Ghana vice-president Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, who was sharing the stage with Zuma during the plenary session, said Africa's development largely depends on empowerment of the youth, including education and skill enhancement.

It was important that the youth be educated and become employed, Amissah-Arthur said.

The WEF Africa meeting was bringing together African and global leaders from government, business and civil society to take stock of progress over the last 25 years, share insights on the present landscape and identify innovative approaches to accelerate inclusive growth while bringing about sustainable development in the future.

The meeting is under the theme "Then and Now: Re-imagining Africa's Future". Endi