Africa has the world’s youngest population, with 60 percent below the age of 25

Held under the patronage of H.E. Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the Ministry of International Cooperation launched the first edition of Egypt - International Cooperation Forum on September 8-9. The two-day forum started pressing conversations on the global and regional challenges, in aims to support the fulfillment of the sustainable development agenda across the world. Speaking during one of the six workshops held, entitled ‘The Demographic Divide: Youth and Innovation for Transforming Africa,’ H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation, said: “Africa is considered the youngest continent on the planet, with around 60 percent of its population under the age of 25. There is no more urgent or important topic than youth empowerment, entrepreneurship and digital innovation. Creating a framework to support the young is vital; Africa’s future depends on it.” The workshop was moderated by Dr. Khaled Ismail, Managing Partner at Grow in Africa Fund (GIAF). Along H.E. Al-Mashat’s presence, the workshop included H.E. Dr. Amr Talaat, Minister of Communications and Information Technology; Mr. Vint G. Cerf, Vice President, Google; Mr. Eric Oechslin, Director, ILO Egypt; Ms. Frederika Meijer, Country Representative, UNFPA; Ms. Anna Ekeledo, Executive Director of AfriLabs; and Mr. Ghaith Fariz, Director of UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science in the Arab States, cluster office for Egypt and Sudan, and Country office for Egypt; among many others. H.E. Dr. Amr Talaat, Egypt’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology, has announced plans to provide more than 60 million people in rural areas with high-speed internet under an ambitious drive to unlock new pathways for economic growth. H.E. Talaat said the initiative is part of a nationwide effort to develop the digital economy and drive job creation. “We want to improve internet connectivity for 60 million Egyptians living in around 4,500 villages by upgrading broadband infrastructure,” the Minister said. “We plan to invest more than US$360 million to connect one million households with fiber-optic cables that will ensure youth can access the internet and thus the knowledge, training and career opportunities offered by the digital world.” Egypt has already invested more than $2 billion to increase average internet speed in major cities from 6.5 to 42.5 megabytes per second – a sevenfold increase in two years. The country will continue to upgrade its metropolitan internet infrastructure to level up its economy. In a pre-recorded message to the Egypt-ICF workshop, Vint G. Cerf, Vice President of Google, called on Africa to turn “digital technology into digital opportunity” by upskilling youth in order to drive GDP growth that raises living standards. He added: “This is a time of unprecedented challenge – a pandemic, climate change and a host of other issues lie before us. But there is also opportunity. However, the technologies that offer the most potential will deliver little value if we do not have trained, skilled, thoughtful and creative people driving applications and new business models to take advantage of the digital infrastructure. The internet will not work well if it is not surrounded by talented people and a cooperative environment of like-minded countries.” Tapping on the importance of empowering entrepreneurs and creating thriving continental startup ecosystems, Anna Ekeledo, Executive Director of AfriLabs, said: “Collaboration is vital for building synergy between startup ecosystems. We are currently funding a number of cross-regional projects in different countries. We are working with on an initiative in Kenya to support women entrepreneurs. Another really exciting way of fostering collaboration is through a multi-stakeholder approach that exchanges knowledge and creates opportunities for startups to scale up.” Held under the patronage of H.E. Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of Egypt, the two-day hybrid event aims to mobilize the global development community and assert its collective commitment to sustainable development as a catalyst for the post-pandemic economic recovery.