The second edition of youth Connekt Africa took place in Kigali Conventional Centre on 8-10 October 2018 under the theme of “Connekting Youth for Continental Transformation”. The summit hosted approximately 2,800 delegates from 90 countries with the launch of Youth Connekt Hub. I had the privilege to be among those young people who attended this developmental youth platforms which opened my mind and the mind of thousands of people.

Youth Connect Africa Summit is a life-changing platform for the young people in the continent, Africa, and beyond. The summit was discussed the most pressing and potential areas for Africa, and how the young people should provide a solution for the gaps in all spheres of people’s lives. For the three days of the summit, the notion was what the young people can do for African to transform and build the #AfricaWeWant. All the delegates were either social entrepreneurs, activist, philanthropist or young & emerging leaders from every corner of the world.

Every single person I met at the summit has a unique story; they either having ideas for investment or running a social enterprise. Few examples are, Dr Charles from Nigeria, Young Entrepreneur, runs JARACARE Company which is an online medical consulting company where the patient can consult with Doctors. Moreover, Maziwaplus Emmastella from Kenya provides a cooling system that helps farms to store the milk at the right temperature. During the summit, we had exciting conversations about youth as a driven force for the SDGs, innovation, job creation, economic integration, closing the gender gap, urbanization and volunteerism. Also, the youth enjoyed the Kigkoners and Youth Converse sessions where the youth were trained the necessary skills in job markets including the CV writings, Job Interviews, and Public Speaking.


Some of Inspiring Quotes that moved my heart during the summit
Zakariyyah Musa, a young Nigerian Activist were commenting about the Economic integration of Africa and its free movements once said ‘‘In Africa, movement cost a lot of money. For you to move from one country to another, it cost a lot of money; sometimes you want to travel to a fellow African country, and you apply for a visa as you are going to the moon; they ask you a lot of questions.’’

’’I think as African people, we must realize that our time is now. There is never been a better time to be an African then now because of if you are inspired to go a developed country, there is no much to develop, but if you are in a developing country then there is a lot of opportunities for us to develop.’’ Tebogo Ditsheg, A South African entrepreneur who delivered a speech about finding the talent and passion for the delegates.

"We have heard you, a dear youth of Africa, and will work collaboratively to ensure we deliver the platforms and services you need. We invite you to be partners in the delivery of the transformation of Africa," said Rosemary Mbabazi, the Minister for Youth of Rwanda. The Minister mentioned this statement on her closing speech on 10th October 16, 2018, and reaction of all the delegates were exceptional emotions with a continuous round of applause and big smiles.

In a nutshell, If you have a business idea for investment, if you running a social enterprise and want to reach countless of people, if are committing to improve and change people’s lives, if you want to create jobs, if you are passionate about Global or regional developmental agendas, if you want to build a professional networks, youth Connekt Africa should be your home to find all! Be part and get engaged youth Connekt at national and continental level. Finally, this article encourages the young people to launch their own National Youth Connekts and Join the Youth Connekt Hub Africa to accelerate the innovation and Transformation of Africa from Traditional to Modern.