Registration for this year's Youth Connekt Africa Summit is on, with the conference scheduled for 8th to 10th of October. Just as the inaugural summit, the second edition is to be hosted in Kigali, Rwanda with a theme of "Connekting Youth for Continental Transformation".
Last year saw the event, hosted by Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, welcome Jack Ma the Founder and Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group on his maiden visit to Africa. It is during this visit that Ma announced four groundbreaking projects to support young African entrepreneurs.
These projects included: Inviting 200 African young entrepreneurs to work at Alibaba headquarters; Working with Universities and governments to teach Internet technology, Artificial Intelligence and e-commerce; Promoting and supporting Environmental conservation efforts in Africa; As well as investing in the continent’s youth.
He announced that he would be doing so through a $10 million African Young Entrepreneurs Fund.
Read About: Rwanda’s Paul Kagame gives a go-ahead to Andela’s partnership proposal
We are yet to know whether Jack Ma will grace the event yet again, but this year's edition looks to focus on the role of the youth in the continent's development as well as curbing the hurdles that youths face today.
These include the lack of trade facilitation; inadequate border infrastructure; limited access to finance; limited market information; corruption & insecurity; and limited knowledge, education & business management skills.
The Youth Connekt Africa Summit is an initiative that unites young entrepreneurs and youth opinion leaders to impact on Africa's development. The summit aims at patching employment gaps, improving education and skills, reducing gender inequality, and empowering technological innovation.
The inaugural summit attracted "more than 1,500 participants from government, business and investor communities, multinationals, and startups shaping Africa's technology ecosystem."
To apply for an invite, you can send an email to yca2018@youthconnektafrica.org.