President Kagame joined fellow African leaders at the Continental Forum on Education and Youth Employability in Mauritania.
African countries need to invest more in education initiatives that skill the youth in a more tangible manner, if the continent is to take advantage of its demographic dividend of young people and become self-sustaining.
This is what constituted President Paul Kagame message at the Continental Forum on Education and Youth Employability, organized by the African Union in partnership with UNICEF, on Tuesday, in Nouakchott, Mauritania, where he joined fellow African and global leaders, including the host President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, who is current Chairperson of the African Union, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune of Algeria, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye of Senegal and African Union Chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat, as well as UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Ted Chaiban.
Speaking at the forum themed “Educating and Qualifying Our Youth for a Prosperous, Integrated, and Dynamic Africa.”, President Kagame said that African countries have a duty to allocate resources in a more strategic manner, to ensure that young people have the skills they need to steer the continent towards socioeconomic transformation.
One of the ways he said that can be done is through partnerships and having a sense of ownership to consider investing in education and skilling of young people as a priority.
“It is Africa’s responsibility to better manage our resources. Relying on external support alone is not a realistic strategy. Effective partnerships should not be confused with outsourcing responsibility, or leadership. It is not a question about being big or small, or having sufficient resources. It is about making the right choices. This is well within Africa’s means,” President Kagame said.
President Kagame called on African countries to prioritise investing in education.
“When you take ownership, this becomes even more attractive, to those that will want to invest in and with us,” President Kagame said, reiterating the importance of early childhood education and ensuring that all children go to school.
“The economic impact of giving every child the right to learn, should not be underestimated. Studies show that for one additional year in school, earnings can increase by 10 percent. There is no exaggeration, in saying that education can transform lives,”
“As we speak, many young Africans are putting their lives in danger to go find better opportunities abroad. This is a sign that we need to do more to empower our youth. Africa is our common home, and we must ensure that every African has a future in this continent.” President Kagame observed.
The two-day conference which is bringing together several African heads of state, ministers, experts and heads of African bodies in the fields of education, higher education, labor, employment, youth and others was organized in partnership between the AU Commission and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), with the aim of addressing several issues, including the gap between education and the job market in Africa, education and the digital revolution, and global economic change.
The conference seeks to assess the progress made by AU member states in implementing international commitments on education, primarily the Fourth Sustainable Development Goal and the Continental Strategy on Education for Africa, and also to strengthen cooperation and sustainable financing through innovative mechanisms to meet current challenges and prepare African youth for the demands of the 21st century.
