The Chief Executive Officer of B&FT, Dr. Godwin Acquaye, is advising the youth to instil a culture of continuous learning and not relent as their role and contribution to economic development is crucial.
Advocating for a wide platform for youths’ ideas to be heard, he said the youths “form the vanguard of the next generation of national economic leaders. And it is incumbent upon you (them) to solve some of the nation’s most intricate and exciting challenges. Do not stop learning from everyone around you, not at the forum or in life.”
He said this in an address at the Youth Economic Forum under the theme ‘Youth voices and action for economic growth, resilience, and employment, a day dedicated to the youth to better amplify their opinions, and voices and give impetus to their ideas.
He also charged them to embrace leadership in their various communities and disciplines to ensure growth and development.
Mr. Acquaye advised the young people to use the platform to establish a strong network by connecting with peers, friends, mentors, and industry experts.
“Consider the opportunity to network as you go through discussions on marketing, Agri-business, and Entrepreneurship. Networking and the act of networking are of paramount importance to people’s careers and social lives alike and one of the best parts of YEF is the opportunity to meet and network with peers, friends, mentors, and professionals,” he said.
“Utilize, the opportunity to speak about how the various topics interact with each other and ultimately cannot exist without each other. Think, share, collaborate and apply your favourite solutions to the problems that you care about the most,” he added.
The Youth Economic Forum is part of our 3-day Business and Financial Times Ghana Economic Forum and it is in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation.
Current official data show that Africa has the youngest population in the world, with 70 percent of sub-Saharan Africa under the age of 30. Ghana’s population is growing in tandem with this trend; however, the youth unemployment rate, according to a 2021 census, is at an all-time high of 13.4 percent – almost three times higher than it was in 2010.
With the potential available to the teeming young population, especially in an increasingly globalised, yet competitive world, the B&FT sought to provide young persons with a credible platform to engage policymakers.
