Afrilabs, a network of tech hubs and business incubators, and African Union (AU) have partnered on an initiative dubbed 1 Million By 2021.
The project is aimed at reaching a million young people in Africa by creating opportunities for youth to actively and meaningfully drive the full realization of Africa’s Agenda 2063.
Launched at the AU headquarters in Ethiopia during a four-day Pan African Forum, Africa’s Agenda 2063 envisions “An Africa whose development is people-driven, relying on the potential of African people, especially its women and youth, and caring for children”.
Now the 1 Million By 2021 initiative wants to address the roots of the problems facing youth and identifies gaps such as the mismatch of qualifications and workforce requirements, limited or restricted youth participation in leadership and governance structures, insufficient number of teachers at secondary and vocational level and young entrepreneurs’ limited access to investment capital, among many other issues.
AfriLabs Annual Gathering
A.U. and AfriLabs are also joining forces host the 2019 AfriLabs Annual Gathering.
It will gather tech and innovation hubs to connect and share knowledge with startup entrepreneurs, corporates, investors, academia and developmental agencies to convene, network and share knowledge.
The gathering will run from Oct. 28-30 under the theme ‘Connect: Towards an Integrated Innovation Ecosystem’.
“We are calling on other partners and ecosystem stakeholders interested in contributing to the social and economic development of our continent to work with us and our community of innovation hubs across the continent to achieve a successful Annual Gathering 2019 and ultimately our vision for Africa,” said Anna Ekeledo Executive Director, AfriLabs, according to TechMoran.
The AfriLabs Annual Gathering 2019 will be among the many events that will champion the 1 Million by 2021 Initiative.
So far the initiative has also attracted support from multinational organizations including Facebook, UNICEF, General Electric, Aga Khan Foundation among others.
Get more details here.
