The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, has spoken out about the need for real capital investment in young Africans rather than temporary empowerment programmes.
He stressed that African youths are not in need of handouts but require serious financial backing to turn their ideas into lasting success.
During a recent appearance on Sunrise Daily, aired on Channels Television on Thursday, April 10, Adesina addressed the mass migration trend known as the Japa syndrome.
He described it as a major loss for Nigeria and the entire continent, noting that the departure of bright minds could have long-term negative effects.
“In the case of young people and the japa syndrome, it’s a big loss for us,” he said.
He explained that young people across Africa have strong entrepreneurial abilities and innovative minds.
However, they are often limited by a lack of capital.
“Young people don’t need freebies; they don’t need people saying: ‘I just want to give you an empowerment programme’,” Adesina stated.
“They have skills, they have knowledge, they have entrepreneurship capacity, they want to turn their ideas into great businesses.”
The AfDB President also pointed out that offering cash handouts or short-term schemes is not enough to support the dreams of young Africans.
Rather, he stressed the need for banks and governments to take financial risks on behalf of youth.
“What young people need is not those empowerment programmes; they need capital, they need you to put your money at risk on their behalf,” he added.
Moreover, Adesina warned that without serious investments in Africa’s youth, the continent’s most valuable resource could be lost to other countries.
He mentioned that over 465 million young people aged 15 to 35 live in Africa.
These numbers, according to him, should be an asset, not a burden.
“You cannot turn your demographic asset into somebody else’s problem,” Adesina emphasized.
He argued that the solution to the youth migration problem lies in building a strong economy that works for everyone.
According to him, the future of African youth should not be tied to countries in Europe, America, or Asia.
“I do not believe that the future of our young people lies in Europe; it doesn’t lie in America, it doesn’t lie in Canada, Japan or China; it should lie in Africa growing well, growing robustly and able to create quality jobs for our young people,” he said.
Furthermore, Adesina compared Africa’s situation with countries like India and China.
He noted that their large populations have been managed properly through education and job creation.
Therefore, he called on African leaders to follow the same path and build a system that benefits everyone.
To support this goal, Adesina announced the creation of the Youth Entrepreneurship Development Bank by the AfDB.
This initiative is designed to help young people access funds and scale their businesses.
“The AfDB just approved $100m to set up the Nigerian Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Bank to mobilise $2bn of investment for more than 38,000 businesses of young people in Africa,” he disclosed.
In addition, Adesina warned that if investments are not made now, the continent will face deeper problems in the future.
He stated that without wealth created by youth, tax revenues and economic growth would suffer.
“They don’t need N5,000, N10,000. You want to create youth-based wealth,” he said.
“If you don’t, who are the people who will pay the taxes in the future? Where are you going to get the capital mobilisation in the future?”
