Adebayo, Dare, Others Urge Utilisation of Diaspora Remittances to Boost Infrastructure, Youth Devt

Oluchi Chibuzor

The Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, Mr. Niyi Adebayo and the Minister of Youths and Sports, Sunday Dare have stressed the need for Africa to leverage its diaspora remittances to boost infrastructure, innovation, trade, knowledge transfer and youth development.

They said this just as the Africa Policy Conversations (AFPC) has taken the lead to facilitate conversations across countries in the continent to drive viable and significant policy reforms, infrastructure improvements, and trade facilitation measures for the continent to realise its full potential.

The AFPC served as a platform for constructive engagement between African youth across the continent, leading African decision-makers, and corporate executives, among others.

To consolidate on its objectives, the AFPC hosted an event recently on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, at the Nigerian Mission in New York, United States.

The event which included four sessions, featured two fireside chats with the Ministers of Industry, Trade and Investment, and the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, as well as two panel sessions, with the first discussing ‘Infrastructure and Growth: Developing the Critical Infrastructure for Africa’s Growth’, and the second panel discussing ‘The New Economy: Realising the potentials of the Technology and Creative Economy.’

Speaking at the event, Adebayo stressed the importance of the African diaspora encouraging the transfer of knowledge and skills for mentoring, entrepreneurship development, and capacity building programmes.

The Convener and Co-founder of AFPC, Chinenye Uwanaka, emphasised the need for Africans in the diaspora to collaborate with those on the continent to strengthen policy making and governance processes.

According to her, “Change is hard and no one can do it alone. We need to ensure that the diaspora remittances that flow into the continent are used judiciously to boost infrastructure, innovation, trade and wealth creation in Africa.

“We don’t need to rely on foreign aid. Rather, we need to find local solutions to local problems facing us. No one is coming to save us. All the potential is in Africa and the youth need to step up courageously to harness our power and resources.”

For Dare, while addressing ‘The Future of African Youth and Globalisation,’ emphasised a number of initiatives that were launched under his administration to support the socio-economic development of African youth.

According to him, several cutting-edge initiatives were being put in place for the youth in Nigeria.