General News
Key Highlights from Grand Africa Initiative’s GAIN Youth Summit 2022
Grand Africa Initiative (GAIN) on the 28th and 29th October, 2022 held the third edition of her annual youth summit tagged GAIN Youth Summit 2022.
This pan-African summit had Prof Benedict O. Oramah, The President and Chairman, Board of Directors, African Export-Import Bank, Egypt as the keynote Speaker who was ably represented by The Afreximbank’s Regional Chief Operating Officer-Anglophone West Africa, Mr. Eric Monchu Intong. Guest Speakers at the summit include the High Commissioner of Namibia to Nigeria, H.E Mr Humphrey Geiseb; Ambassador of Cote D’ivoire to Nigeria Mr Kalilou TRAORE; Dr Tony Elumelu, Ag. Director of Private Sector Development at the ECOWAS Commission, Nigeria; Caroline Njuki, Officer in Charge and Chief Technical Advisor Inclusive Jobs and Education, International Labour Organisation, Kenya; Mr Eric Nges, Vice President, J.P Morgan, Germany; Mr Obinna Iyiegbu (Obi Cubana), the Chairman and CEO, Cubana Group; Mr Sam Itodo, Executive Director, YIAGA Africa, Nigeria; Mr Ehia Erhaboh, Executive Vice President, Operations and Technology, Interswitch Group, Nigeria; Mr Emmanuel Asika; Country Manager- HP Nigeria; Omni Channel Manager-HP ACE, Princess Adeyinka, Founder Happy Coffee, Nigeria; Rapitso Motsebesi, CEO Iconics Pty, Lesotho. Key partners for this year’s summit include the ECOWAS Commission and Embassy of the Republic of Guinea in Nigeria.
The summit attracted over 3000 participants from 62 countries across the world.
The theme of the summit was “The Africa We Want: Nexus Between the Youth, Peace and Entrepreneurship II”
In his Keynote Address, Prof Benedict Oramah, the President and Chairman, Board of Directors, African Export-Import Bank, Egypt congratulates GAIN on the excellent work it is doing, especially with regards to entrepreneurship development and youth employment in Africa.
The Afreximbank Boss called for the prioritization of developmental programmes that facilitates youth integration into trade value chains by both public and private sector players as the solution to the problem of youth unemployment on the continent.
He made this call while delivering the keynote speech at the summit. Prof. Oramah emphasized that youth entrepreneurship and innovation are pivotal to the continent’s economic transformation and so young people should be fully empowered and equipped with the tools to provide solutions to the challenges on the continent.
Oramah stated that “To maximize the AfCFTA’s benefits, and to exploit other opportunities in global value chains, Africa’s youth must be fully empowered to participate in cross border trade. It is especially important that young people are given the tools they need to express themselves as entrepreneurs and equipped to innovate solutions to the continent’s raft of socio-economic issues. We must also ensure that youth perspectives are represented at all levels of the policy formulation process”
“It is therefore necessary for both public and private sector players to prioritize the development of targeted programmes that facilitate youth integration into trade value chains. Afreximbank, in playing its part, is committed to addressing the financing, technical capacity and market access limitations that currently impede the expansion of youth-led trade in Africa”
“Harnessing African youth and positioning this demographic as an engine for economic growth is the collective effort of all, therefore, we must rise to the challenge and ensure that Africa actualizes the potential that this constituency holds with regards to the development of our beloved continent”.
In her opening speech, Chinwe Okoli, the Executive Director of GAIN, stated that there is a need to understand the current situation of Africa as it provides the baseline for creating the Africa we truly want. Speaking on the impact of the summit so far, she stated that “over the past three years, the GAIN Youth Summit has deepened the discourse and contributed to shaping policies around strategies to unleash the economic potentials of young Africans to build sustainable prosperity on the continent.
“Learning from the previous summit resulted in the launch of GAIN Entrepreneurship Masterclass in 2021”.
She emphasized that GAIN believes strongly that the pace of development of Africa depends on the rate of youth development and how GAIN in strong partnership with her partners have trained and empowered young African Entrepreneurs and continues to do so.
“In partnership with the Development Bank of Nigeria for instance, we have trained young women entrepreneurs selected from the six geographical regions of Nigeria. And in partnership with Afreximbank, we have also trained young Africans from 29 African countries within 2022 alone and GAIN will continue to design and implement interventions in response to critical issues that impact the youth in Africa”.
Delivering His goodwill message, the High Commissioner of Namibia to Nigeria, His Excellency Mr Humphrey Geiseb, commended Grand Africa Initiative(GAIN) for its work in bringing opportunities for business to African Youth.
In his words “Youth represent a rapidly growing segment of our population. It is important to provide an enabling environment particularly peace and political stability to position the youth to play a meaningful role. Africa needs to mainstream the presence of young peoples’ voices and recognize their engagement and contributions”.
“Adequate development that involves the youth is needed to ensure that young people utilize their knowledge, youthful energy and resourcefulness to transform Africa’s raw material into
value added products. Youth innovation through entrepreneurship can indeed play a vital role to develop our continent”.
He highlighted the need for African youths to continue to deepen unity and cooperation across the continent on youth matters and that GAIN Youth Summit is an important platform to emphasize the potentials of youths as partners in economic development and as key players in finding solutions to enable the youth to overcome the devastating impact of the pandemic”
His Excellency Ambassador Kalilou TRAORE, Ambassador of Cote d’Ivoire to Nigeria and ECOWAS while responding to the question on how leadership can steer the continent and countries therein in the right direction as a panelist on the day 1 of the summit said “Governance and leadership in Africa is about a clear vision and challenges we have to overcome to achieve our aspirations, So, we need leaders with transformational capacities to make it happen”.
Mr Eric Nges in his response to a question on the kinds of leadership needed to propel Africa’s development, said “Africa is rich in natural resources and a resilient population. He identified three(3) types of leaders which includes: Visionary/Imaginative leaders, Inspirational leaders and Aspirational leaders” emphasizing the need for good leadership in Africa to drive the transformation on the continent.
Speaking on the panel topic Unlocking the potentials in Africa: The Leadership Question, the Executive Director, YIAGA Africa, Nigeria, Sam Itodo says leadership questions cannot be overlooked if Africa is going to achieve the 2063 goals; leadership is about taking responsibility and Africa needs leaders who will be proactive in taking responsibilities, leaders that care about generational equity, care about the future, care about the youths and also leaders who know when to leave the stage”.
He emphasized that young people are not asking the right questions and are not prepared enough to take over leadership roles in the continent. He enjoined Africa youths to widen their horizon and build alliances across nations and ages.
Dr Tony Elumelu, Ag. Director of Private Sector Development at the ECOWAS Commission, speaking on migration and peace said In Africa , migration is our way of life and it is not necessarily a bad thing but rather it depends on how it is handled and the purpose. He implored African governments to create a good environment for people to stay and also strong institutions to regulate mobility to ensure safety thereby giving Africans a ray of hope and reasons to stay rather than leave the continent.
Caroline Njuki, Officer in Charge and Chief Technical Advisor Inclusive Jobs and Education, International Labour Organisation, Kenya, speaking on the same topic stated that “research has shown that people will migrate to where they find resources to sustain their livelihood. Africa is blessed with talents and supporting people with brilliant ideas to birth those ideas will undoubtedly transform the continent for the better”. It is high time African governments tackled the challenges in retaining talent in Africa as she identified access to capital for MSMEs as the biggest challenge.
Ehia Erhaboh, Executive Vice President, Operations and Technology, Interswitch Group, Nigeria speaking on the topic: The Imperative of Youth Entrepreneurship in Building Africa, said that “A lot is dependent on African youths to make sure to leave a better version of this present Africa. Youths should be problem solvers: constantly looking for opportunities to solve problems in their environment, Africa Youths should not wait to see things happen but they should make things happen. The Africa we want is in the hands of the youth especially youth entrepreneurs and as such youth entrepreneurship should be highly promoted by government and leaders in the continent”.
In his contribution, the Chairman, Cubana Group, Obinna Tochukwu Iyiegbu stated that nobody can develop Africa apart from Africans and Entrepreneurship needs to be at the core of the efforts to transform Africa at various levels. He admonished Africa youths to focus less on the negatives rather focus more on what can be done right.
“Building the Africa we want involves leveraging technology and innovation. African Government and leaders need to factor in youth participation and promote their involvement in the technology sector”. These were the words of Emmanuel Asika; Country Manager- HP Nigeria; Omni Channel Manager-HP ACE while speaking at the panel session on day 2 of the summit.
He emphasized that successful entrepreneurs need to understand the importance of technology and innovation. He proposed that youth entrepreneurs should be educated on digital literacy and its importance to establishing a successful business and government and leaders should develop schemes and also promote digital inclusion in the continent.
Sharing their inspiring bold action as young African Entrepreneurs, Princess Adeyinka Tenekah, founder of one of Nigeria’s premier indigenous coffee franchises, Happy Coffee, shared her drive for building her business and creating a niche for herself in the agricultural sector.
Rapitso Mosebetsi, a Lesotho born entrepreneur and social business innovator, Co-Founder & CEO Iconics Pty Ltd, also shared his experience in building a business in the fashion sector. His business was hailed ‘Most Innovative & Versatile Exporter in 2022’ by the Lesotho National Development Corporation, USAID Trade Hub Southern Africa, and Lesotho Post Bank.
They both enjoined Africa youths to back up their dreams with actions and to see every problem as an opportunity to contribute to the development of Africa.
Grand Africa Initiative (GAIN) is a youth-focused pan-African non-governmental organization championing youth empowerment for development across Africa. GAIN is set up to help young Africans between 15 and 35 years old drawn from within and outside the continent, who are passionate about promoting entrepreneurship as a means to reduce conflict, promote peace and economic revival of the continent. GAIN programs include training, advocacy, mentorship, and youth events, designed to help achieve sustainable development by igniting the positive energy of the greater segment of Africa’s population – the youth.
Federal government recently received a proposed protocol agreement from India that could pave the way for agricultural cooperation between the two countries.
Abishek Singh, India’s high commissioner to Nigeria, announced the proposal recently n Abuja during the India-Nigeria Business Forum on Agriculture and Allied Sectors.
New Delhi’s proposed cooperation would support Nigeria’s food security efforts, with the goal of reducing post-harvest losses by nearly 50% and expanding agricultural processing.
It would also cover technology transfers, mechanization, financing solutions and capacity building.
Abuja has opened similar discussions with China.
Only recently, Mukhtar Muhammed, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology, said Nigeria wanted to deepen scientific and technological cooperation with Beijing in agriculture.
The discussions with China have focused on developing low-cost, solar-powered cold storage facilities and transferring food-processing technologies.
Nigeria, also wants to work with Chinese research institutes to develop infrastructure that can improve the preservation of perishable products.
Nigeria’s outreach to its Asian partners addresses a major problem for the agricultural sector.
The Bank of Agriculture (BoA) estimates that Africa’s most populous country loses 30 million to 40 million tons of food each year before it reaches consumers.
Those losses are worth an average of about N3.5 trillion ($2.5 billion) annually, according to data the institution presented at a workshop in Kaduna in July 2026.
Perishable products are particularly vulnerable, according to local media reports, with fruits and vegetables accounting for an estimated 40% to 50% of total losses.
The government has already launched its own response to the problem.
Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) indicted the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and other ministries over administrative lapses that allowed the fictitious Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) to operate.
Musa Aliyu, chairman, ICPC, stated that NITDA, alongside the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), the Budget Office, and other bodies, failed to carry out adequate due diligence and standard operating procedures.
ICPC said however, clarified that the findings pointed to severe internal control weaknesses and administrative negligence rather than active official complicity by NITDA and the other affected agencies.
The briefing followed a 30-day investigation ordered by the president on July 7 into allegations surrounding the purported presidential council.
The commission also cleared the presidency and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) of any wrongdoing but blamed institutional lapses in several ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).
Aliyu said investigators established that Adeniyi Adeyemi, the director-general, was never appointed by the federal government and that the PFIPC had no legal existence.
“As you may recall, on the 7th of July, Mr. President directed the ICPC to conduct an investigation into the fake Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council and submit a report within 30 days,” he said.
“Today, exactly within the stipulated period, we have submitted an interim report based on our interactions with all stakeholders involved.”
According to Aliyu, Tinubu directed the commission to make its findings public in the interest of transparency and accountability.
He said the investigation found that Adeyemi’s purported appointment letter was forged.
“It has been established that Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew was never appointed by the Federal Government or any authority whatsoever,” he said.
“The Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council, which sometimes they called the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, was never established by any law, executive order or any valid instrument of government.
“The appointment letter presented by Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew was completely forged alongside similar documents used to perpetuate the illegal activities of the fake agency.”
Aliyu stated that a purported government gazette used to legitimise the organisation was also fabricated.
“If you recall, there was a gazette which he used to support the fake agency. That gazette is an illegal document that never passed through the processes prescribed by law,” he stated.
“Our investigation found that the office used by the fake agency was the office of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council. The office was broken into and access was gained illegally. That was how he was able to operate from there.”
Aliyu also revealed that investigators uncovered two additional fictitious government agencies allegedly created by the suspect — the FCT Investment Promotion Agency (FIPA) and the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency/Public-Private Partnership (FIPA-PPP).
According to him, fake legislative instruments were used to create the agencies and open bank accounts.
Despite the elaborate scheme, the ICPC chairman said the investigation found no evidence that federal government funds were disbursed to the fake council.
“Our investigation found that no funds of the federal government were approved or disbursed to the fake PFIPC,” he said.
“We also discovered no weaknesses in the systems of the State House or the Central Bank of Nigeria during our investigation. The fake appointment letter did not originate from the presidency.
“Our investigation found that some public officers failed to carry out due diligence and failed to comply with standard operating procedures in their ministries and departments. That gave him the opportunity to carry out these illegal acts.”
Nigeria tax system is build on taxing prosperity not poverty, according to Dr. Zacch Adedeji, executive chairman, Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS).
Dr. Zacch Adedeji, executive chairman, Nigeria Revenue Service
Adedeji, also dismissed the insinuation that the government’s tax reform is aimed at extracting money from Nigerians .
He said the essence of reform is creating an economic environment where individuals and businesses can prosper.
Dr. Adedeji made the clarifications on Sunday night while appearing on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where he defended the administration’s tax reforms and addressed concerns over rising government revenue amid the economic hardship facing Nigerians.
According to him, the government’s objective is to tax the fruits of investment rather than the investment itself.
“For us at Nigeria Tax, we are not there to extract. Our focus is not revenue. I don’t want to tax poverty. I’m to tax the fruit, not the seed, and I’m to tax the return, not investment.”
Adedeji explained that the government would generate more revenue as businesses became more profitable, without necessarily increasing the tax burden on individuals and companies.
He said a company that made N100 in profit could generate N30 in tax revenue for the government, but if its profit increased to N200 or N300, government revenue would rise accordingly.
“So, if I want to make more, I must work for you to make more. And that is why it is in the best interest of us in Nigeria Revenue Service that businesses are doing well, individuals are doing well,” he said.
He said the approach was consistent with President Bola Tinubu’s economic agenda, which seeks to remove barriers to investment and create a more conducive environment for businesses to operate and expand.
Adedeji cited reforms in the electricity sector as part of the government’s efforts to stimulate economic activity.
He noted that the Electricity Act had devolved powers to state governments to generate, transmit and distribute electricity, arguing that improved power supply would boost production and productivity across the economy.
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