Investing in youth Africa'smost valuable resource

OFFICE - +27 (0) 11 256 3600 | FAX - +27 (0) 11 206 3762 | WEB - www.nepad.org
Two-hundred million of Africa’s
current one billion citizens are
between the ages of 15 and 35
years old. This increases pressure
on African leadership to develop
dynamic and concrete solutions
for their growing demands.
The NEPAD Agency launched
in January this year its Young
Professionals Programme (YPP)
to attract motivated young
Africans to improve excellence in
the delivery of its mandate.
The YPP offers graduates
and postgraduate students
the opportunity to develop
their technical and leadership
potentials whilst enhancing
practical knowledge of NEPAD
and Africa’s developmental
strategies. In the long term, the
programme will assist the NEPAD
Agency to build institutional
capacity for the effective planning
and implementation of NEPAD
programmes and projects.
The YPP Programme comprises
of an Internship, Fellowship and
Volunteer Programme.
To become a NEPAD YPP,
applicants must be a citizen of
an AU member country or an
African in the Diaspora, and be
knowledgeable about NEPAD’s
thematic areas.
NEPAD Agency Young Professionals Programme
Investing in Youth: Africa’s most valuable resource

English Edition | August 2014 page 2
Linda Gouman
Since the programme kicked off, 5 interns from Lesotho, Burundi, Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria have
joined the NEPAD Agency. They have been working in various capacities in the CEO’s Office, Strategic
Planning and Knowledge Management Directorate, Science & Technology Programme as well as in the
Communications Unit.
Linda Gouman from Cote d’Ivoire and Erick Mariga from Kenya share their NEPAD experience.
34 year old Linda Gouman holds a Master
in Literature from the University of Cocody,
Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, and a Public Relations
Diploma from the Boston City Campus College,
Pretoria, South Africa. Linda works in the
Communications Unit.
Why NEPAD?
I have always been interested in working for an
International organisation that focuses on Africa;
that is one of the reasons why I am currently
pursuing my studies in International Relations. One
day in 2007 I came across a NEPAD brochure and
I thought this is exactly what I would like to do. I
strongly believe that the solutions for most of Africa’s
problems should come from Africans in general and
African youth in particular.
What have you learned?
I have already learned a lot. I have learned how to write newsletter articles and got a better understanding
of how communications and branding works.
My current project
I am currently working on a project called “Africa this week” which is a weekly snapshot on what is
happening in Africa, as well as e-Alerts, which are short internal messages to staff.
A word to those applying for the NEPAD Young Professionals Programme
Former UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa
(ECA), Mr Abdoulie Janneh, said at the AU Summit in Malabo: “Africa’s youth have the greatest stake in the
future sustainability of our planet, Africa’s youth should be mobilized to get out the message of sustainable
development.” NEPAD’s Young Professionals Programme (YPP) creates exactly this platform for African
youth to get involved in the future of our continent.
25 year old Erick Mariga holds a Master in
Development Studies from the University of
the Western Cape and a Bachelor of Commerce
(First Class Honours) from the Africa Nazarene
University, Kenya. He works in the Strategic
Planning and Knowledge Management
Directorate.
Why NEPAD?
I applied because it was a good opportunity
to gain practical working experience in African
Development.
My current project
I provide research and data analysis support.
Currently, I am working on a research paper on
“The Role of NEPAD in Job creation structures in Africa: Towards Agenda 2063”. For me, this is an exciting
project. Africa is the youngest continent; we have the youngest and most dynamic workforce in the world
and its getting bigger as days go by. Now that means we have a tremendous potential to be a productive
Erick Mariga

part of the world. However, we have a paradox in Africa. On one hand there are many youths without
jobs and on the other hand there are many industries that can’t find people to hire or the cost of talent
acquisition is so high. Therefore it’s imperative to create the right structures by partnering with the
education institutions, the employers and very often some social sector players.
My Experience working in NEPAD
The NEPAD Agency has introduced me to new ways of thinking. It has also offered me the opportunity to
work on a variety of interesting projects in Africa, more notably Agenda 2063 and at the same time, to tap
into expert knowledge. I have also learned more about NEPAD programmes.
A word to those applying for the NEPAD Young Professionals Programme
Africa is a big continent and you’re probably interested in experiencing what it has to offer. The NEPAD
Agency YPP is an opportunity to do precisely that. If you are interested in Agenda 2063, this is the right
place. “The Africa we want in 50 years’ time”. What is your role in Africa’s development story?
NEPAD promoted the YPP on August 20 at the careers evening event of the South African
Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg,
South Africa. Graduate students showed great interest in the programme
and wanted to learn more about NEPAD.
Financing infrastructure
By Abdoul Salam Bello*
For nearly a decade, Africa
has reported an impressive
economic growth rate averaging
5% per year. To sustain this
growth, the continent will need to
significantly increase investment
in infrastructure.
High on the list, African leaders
say, are joint cross-border
projects, particularly in a region
with 16 landlocked and often
struggling economies. Joint
regional projects can also benefit
from the econo-mies of scale
arising from well-managed trade
corridors.
An example of one such cross-
border project is the Trans-
Saharan highway that connects
the Algerian capital Algiers
to Lagos in Nigeria. Once
completed, the 4,500 km highway
will facilitate trade and social
exchanges between North African
countries and sub-Saharan Africa,
thus overcoming the geographic

barrier of the Sahara Desert.
Another project is the $25 billion
infrastructure development
programme launched last year
by Kenya, Ethiopia and South
Sudan, which includes the
construction of a highway linking
the three countries.
Strategic partners
In June 2013, US President
Barack Obama announced a
five-year $7 billion Power Africa
initiative which aims to provide
an investment firm run by Nigerian
businessman Tony Elumelu, who
intends to contribute $2.5 billion to
the Power Africa initiative as part
of the $9 billion expected to come
from the private sector.
Chinese companies have shown
strong interest in investing in
infrastructure projects in Africa
as evidenced by a 2013 study
titled, “Africa Gearing Up,” by
PricewaterhouseCoopers, a
global finance company. China
agency, Gabon, Senegal and
Zambia, among others, raised
nearly $8.1 billion in bonds in
2012. Kenya is now investing
$25 billion in bonds to build a
second port at Lamu, a crude
oil pipeline and roads that will
open opportunities for exports in
Eastern Africa.
Remittances are another
significant source of funding from
Africans in the diaspora. They
totaled nearly $40 billion in 2012,
access to electricity to about
50 million people in Africa in
both rural and urban areas. As
envisioned, the initiative would
generate 20,000 megawatts of
energy capacity in sub-Saharan
Africa by 2020. The initial phase
will focus on Ethiopia, Ghana,
Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria and
Tanzania, which have already
imple¬mented ambitious energy
production targets. President
Obama’s initiative has already
attracted interest from the African
Development Bank (AfDB) and
private corporations in Africa. One
such company is Heirs Holdings,
recently signed a $5 billion
investment agreement with Kenya
to construct a 952 km railway
connecting the East African port
city of Mombasa to the Ugandan
border. The rail line is expected to
be extended to Rwanda, Uganda
and Tanzania by 2018.
Domestic resources for
infrastructure finance
In recent years, several African
countries have employed different
strategies for raising capital to
finance infrastructure, including
issuing bonds. According to
Moody’s, a US credit rating
compared to $28.9 billion in
official development assistance
during the same period. It is
estimated that Africa could
receive billions of dollars every
year in remittances. For example,
over the past years, Ethiopia has
issued two infrastructure bonds
to the diaspora: for the Ethiopian
Electricity Company and for the
Grand Ethiopian Renaissance
Dam. The dam, which will be the
largest hydroelectric power plant
in Africa, will have the capacity
to generate 6,000 megawatts of
electricity when completed.

Africa is also pursuing further
innovative institutional finance
projects. The AfDB has launched
the $3 billion Africa50 Fund
dedicated to infrastructure
finance, while the World Bank
is developing a new investment
platform called the Global
Infrastructure Facility.
The Dakar Agenda for Action
Despite these initiatives,
the money for infrastructure
investment in Africa is still
insufficient. Recognizing that
public funding alone will not
be enough, policy makers
want the private sector to
provide additional finance for
infrastructure development. The
deficit in private funding is often
attributed to a lack of awareness
among investors, particularly
those who are able and willing
to take long-term investment
risks associated with huge and
complex projects. Strong legal
and institutional frameworks
are therefore needed to protect
private investors.
To address these issues, African
leaders and their private sector
counterparts met in June in
Dakar, Senegal, to agree on
how to finance 16 regional
infrastructure projects considered
as priorities for the continent.
They adopted the Dakar
Agendafor Action to promote
public-private partnerships
that will mobilize finance for
infrastructure development. They
also agreed to provide the funding
required during the preparatory
phase of projects, enact laws
designed to attract private
investments to cross-border
projects and harmonise
regional rules and regulations.
The summit tasked the AfDB,
under the supervision of the
New Partnership for Africa’s
Development (NEPAD), the
African Union’s develop-ment
arm, to carry out feasibility
studies and preparatory work on
the 16 infrastruc¬ture projects.
The hope is that the action plan
will open a new era of innovation
and development of Africa’s
infrastructure.
* Abdoul Salam Bello is the
Senior Coordinator at NEPAD
Agency CEO’s Office.
Addressing the adverse effects of Climate Change
Madam Marie Etoundi (54), rural
farmer from the Central region
in Cameroun is bemoaning the
rate at which productivity levels
on her four acre cassava plot of
land have fallen drastically over
the last couple of years. “In the
1990’s I cultivated cassava and
the harvest used to be extremely
good and my family was doing
but now the rains have failed
us, the soil is not productive and
devilish looking termites are also
eating up the little cassava that
I am able to harvest from my
farm. I cannot even get “kpwem”
(cassava leaves). I am 54 years
old and now forced to buy
cassava which had never been
the case. To pay school fees
for my children is very difficult”
lamented Marie during a
workshop on Gender, Climate
Change and Agriculture held in
Yaoundé Cameroon in July 2014.
Her story is a familiar one to
many farmers who are facing the
harsh realities of climate change
in Africa. Climate change is
emerging as a major challenge

to Africa’s economic growth,
long-term prosperity, as well as
the survival of already vulnerable
populations.
Taking into account these
challenges, a number of
continental and global initiatives
on climate finance, adaptation
and technology have been put
in place to provide a unique
opportunity to transform climate
challenges into development
opportunities across Africa.
One of such initiatives is the
NEPAD Climate Change Fund
which aims at strengthening
the resilience and capacity of
African countries to address the
present and future challenges
posed by climate change. The
NEPAD Climate Change Fund
was established in 2014 with an
initial seed funding of 3.6 million
Euros from the Government of
Germany for a two-year period
(2014-2015).
The Fund is aligned with African
Union priority initiatives such as
the NEPAD Environment Action
Plan and the Comprehensive
Africa Agricultural Development
Programme (CAADP) and
offers technical and financial
assistance to AU member States,
Regional Economic Communities
(RECs) and Non-Governmental
Organizations. Key among the
major priorities for the Fund is the
promotion of innovative actions,
implementation of concrete
measures and strategic projects/
interventions that serve as
models for sustaining livelihoods
and improving environmental
well-being.
According to the Director of
Programmes at NEPAD, Mrs.
Estherine Fotabong, the focus of
the Climate Change Fund is on
results delivery and thus geared
at ensuring a robust, broad-
based and all-inclusive approach
to climate change issues on the
continent. “It is imperative for
African countries to take issues
of climate change very seriously
as it affects the lives of millions
of people, especially in the
rural communities” stated Mrs.
Estherine Fotabong.
In response to the First Call for
Proposals, over 100 African
institutions applied for funding
support to undertake various
projects aimed at training,
Capacity Development; policy
guidelines development; and
research and knowledge
management in climate change
in Africa. Following a technical
and financial evaluation of the
proposals received by a technical
team, the Steering Committee
of the Climate Change Fund
approved 11 projects for funding
under the First Call for Proposals.
Addressing the members of the
Steering Committee Dr. Ibrahim
Assane Mayaki, Chief Executive
Officer of the NEPAD Agency
emphasized that the Climate
Change Fund is a “catalytic
fund, which must be grown to
impact the lives of Africans’’. He
therefore entreated the members
of the Steering Committee to
bring their wealth of experience,
network and expertise to support
the aims and objectives of the
Fund.
The next call for proposals is set
to be announced in November,
2014.
Participants at the Steering Committee Meeting

Geographical distribution Approved Projects
Project: Regional project to strengthen the
capacity of fisheries stakeholders to climate
change in West Africa.
Location: Senegal, Guinea and Cape Verde
Grantee: Réseau sur les politiques de pêche en
Afrique de l’Ouest (REPAO)
Project: Development of Policy Framework to
support the implementation of Nagoya Protocol
on Access and Benefit Sharing arising in Burkina
Faso
Location: Burkina Faso
Grantee: Permanent Secretariat of National
Council for Environment and Sustainable
Development
Project: Sensitization, training
and awareness creation on
impact of climate change on
environment and agriculture
Location: Nigeria
Grantee: NEPAD Nigeria
Project: Development of Integrated Coastal
Zones Strategy/ Management Plan and capacity
building for women who work along the fish value
chain
Location: Cameroon
Grantees: Limbe City Council in partnership with
African Resource Group
Project: Use of Agro-meteorological information
towards Climate Change Adaptation in Agriculture
Location: South Africa
Grantees: South African Weather Service
(SAWS) in collaboration with the Ingonyama Rural
Development Trust
Project: Mainstreaming Climate Change into
National Agricultural and Food Security Investment
Plans of Swaziland
Location: Swaziland
Grantee: Ministry of Agriculture, Swaziland
Project: Policy alignment and
coherence of Programmes to combat
desertification, promote sustain
biodiversity and adaptation to climate
change
Location: Niger
Grantees: Executive Secretariat of the
National Council of the Environment for
Sustainable Development of Niger in
collaboration with Gouri Foundation and
ONG Reseau MARP Niger
Project: Mainstreaming Climate Change into
National Agriculture and Food Security Investment
Plans of Zambia
Location: Zambia
Grantee: Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock,
Zambia
Project: Support mainstreaming of climate change
into National Agriculture Investment Plans of 9
COMESA Countries
Location: COMESA Region
Grantee: COMESA Secretariat
Project: Women Fuel Wood Carriers
Project
Location: Ethiopia
Grantee: Ministry of Women,
Children and Youth Affairs, Ethiopia
Project: Strengthening
community based climate
change responses
Location: Uganda
Grantee: Household
Opportunities for Poverty
Eradication (HOPE), NGO

Mitigate the impact of climate change by
supporting small-holder women farmers
With the vision to achieve an effective and more equitable participation of African women small holder
farmers through policy changes and access to climate smart agricultural technologies, the NEPAD Gender
Climate Change Agriculture Support Programme (GCCASP) aims to support small-holder women farmers
to address the challenges posed by Climate Change in the agricultural sector.
The GCCASP Programme which is currently in the planning phase will be fully implemented in 2015 in five
African countries namely, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Malawi, Niger and Rwanda. The number of countries to
benefit from the programme will be expanded as more resources become available.
A three-day workshop was organised on August 11 to 13 by the NEPAD Agency in collaboration with the
Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion (MIGEPROFE) of Rwanda with support from the Norwegian
Agency for Development (NORAD).
The workshop’s aim was to support the Government of Rwanda develop a national project document for
the implementation of the programme.
The workshop was attended by representatives from the Government of Rwanda, the Rwanda Environment
Management Authority (REMA), Non-Governmental Organisations and women farmer organisations.
“One can lack clothes and can survive but not food” said a woman attending the workshop.
Echoing her statement, Mr Mohamed Abdisalam, NEPAD Head of Programme Implementation and
Management, highlighted that GCCASP focuses especially on small scale women in farming as they
are impacted most by the effects of climate change and food insecurity. He alerted the participants that
GCCASP is in its final stage of the planning phase and the workshop was organised to review, validate and
take full ownership of the Rwanda GCCASP. “After this workshop, we will have a clear idea on the Rwanda
GCCASP results framework and the programme interventions. The programme will not only remain in Kigali
but its impacts will be achieved down to the communities and households levels,” he said.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion, Madame Umulisa Henriette
pointed out that much of the Agriculture technology applied in Rwanda use rudimentary methods and the
Government would like to see the programme bringing new technology to assist the women in agriculture
production in the face of climate change.
She went on by stating that “the Government of Rwanda has achieved its milestone targets of gender
sensitive and responsive development and what NEPAD is bringing on board will complement the work that
the Government is doing’’.

Fast-track Integration by Enhancing Regional Capacities
other AU organs and institutions
towards enhancing regional
integration in Africa.
“The M-CDP is a great
opportunity to build on existing
regional integration achievements
towards ensuring that capacities
for Recs to respond to citizens’
needs are enhanced in the ever
changing global context” said Mr.
Tigere Chagutah from, OXFAM.
The meeting, focusing on regional
capacity needs to fast-track
regional integration through
frameworks such as the 2nd
Decade of NEPAD, AU Agenda
2063 and Africa’s Post-2015
priorities, gathers representatives
from African Union Commission,
the Community of Sahel-
Saharan States (CEN-SAD),
East African Community (EAC),
Common Market for Eastern
and Southern Africa (COMESA),
Economic Community of Central
African States (ECCAS),
Economic Community Of West
African States (ECOWAS),
Intergovernmental Authority on
Development (IGAD) and Arab
Maghreb Union (AMU).
(l-r) Mr. Jean-Yves Adou, AUC, Dr. Robert Nantchouang, ACBF, Prof. Khalil Timamy, Head, NEPAD Coordination
Unit, AUC and Ms. Florence Nazare, NEPAD Agency
The partnership collaboration
for the AU/NEPAD multi-agency
Capacity Development Support
Programme (M-CDP) to Regional
Economic Communities expands
commendably.
The Inter-REC’s validation
meeting held in Magalisberg,
South Africa (18-22August) aimed
to ensure that the integrated
RECs 2015-2025 Capacity
Development Strategy and
Implementation Plan will help
Africa to pay adequate attention
to capacities that are required for
the successful implementation
of Agenda 2063, the Second
Decade of NEPAD and Post-2015
Agenda.
According to Dr. Robert
Nantchouang, Head of
Knowledge Management at Africa
Capacity Building Forum (ACBF),
“The RECs have shown great
interest in the exercise, and they
appear to be very knowledgeable
of the capacities needed in order
to fulfill their respective mandates.
This is commendable. It is
now up to us to respond to this
demand.”
The African Capacity Building
Foundation (ACBF), a key
strategic partner to NEPAD
Agency on Africa’s capacity
development agenda, is fully
committed to being a full partner
in joining forces to buttress
existing substantial support
by UNDP and ECA. This was
through bilateral agreements
between NEPAD Agency Chief
Executive Officer and ACBF
Executive Secretary towards the
Foundation becoming strongly
engaged in the AU/NEPAD multi-
agency initiative.
To further strengthen coordination
towards the sustainable delivery
of capacity results for the RECs
Programme, the meeting has
an expanded development
partner participation involving
representatives from AfDB, ACBF,
Action Aid, DFID, IMF, OSISA,
OXFAM, UNDP, UNECA, UNIDO
and USAID.
The RECs CD programme is part
of the overarching AU institutional
development process aimed at
forging the necessary functional
linkages between RECs and with

Contact us
The NEPAD Communications Unit
Tel: +27 (0) 11 256 3615
Fax +27 (0) 11 206 3762
Email: info@nepad.org
Visit our website at: www.nepad.org
www.facebook.com/nepad.org

www.twitter.com/nepad_au
Copyright © NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency (NPCA): All material published in the NEPAD Newsletter is
copyright and is the exclusive property of the NEPAD Agency. No part of the material may be quoted, photocopied
or reproduced without prior permission from the NEPAD Agency, Block B, International Business Gateway Park,
Corner Challenger & Columbia Avenues, Midridge Office Park, Midrand (Johannesburg), 1685, South Africa.
Proverb from Mauritius ~
“Young people think that when they grow up they will reach the sky, and touch the
stars; but after a while, they realize how far the sky is.”
Upcoming events
1 – 4 September 2014: African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF), Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia
3 September 2014: Grow Africa Steering Committee Meeting, Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia
1 – 5 September 2014: Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa NAFSIP review and donor meeting,
Lilongwe, Malawi
9 – 10 September 2014: Participation in the Global Regulatory Competency and Curricula Development
Project ., Washington DC, United States
9 – 10 September 2014: Stakeholders Consultation on MRH Project and Model Law for Northern Africa,
Tunis, Tunisia
10 – 14 September 2014: Africa Pharmaceutical Summit, Accra, Ghana
See also online at: www.nepad.org/events
Proverb

Investing in youth Africa'smost valuable resource

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (18)

Similar to Investing in youth Africa'smost valuable resource

Similar to Investing in youth Africa'smost valuable resource (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Investing in youth Africa'smost valuable resource