Events

Opportunities for Youth to Leapfrog Regional Integration in Africa

February 27, 2021

Online

BACKGROUND
ORGANIZERS
SPEAKERS AND MODERATORS

Although Africa witnessed a level of consistent growth over the last decade, unfortunately these gains have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. According to the World Bank, it is estimated that COVID-19 could push up to 40 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa into extreme poverty.
This has, however, given Africa the opportunity to strengthen regional integration and rethink regional production chains to drive intra-African trade with manufacturing and distribution that could ensure Africa’s economic sustainability in the face of daunting challenges. During this roundtable, young people will engage with Africa’s partners to share strategies for how they can participate in, and benefit from, regional integration.
The conversation is expected to build understanding among Africa’s youth about the potential of regional integration in the development of the continent, and help them leverage the changing ways of work to capitalize on opportunities that will arise from regional integration.
Registration Link
It will take place on Saturday, February 27, at 6pm EAT; 5pm CAT; 2pm GMT; 10 am EST time. It will run for 1 hour and will offer simultaneous translation between French and English.
Please register using this link. The Zoom link will be sent to those who have registered 48 hours before the event.
About the series
With the support of the World Bank, the Youth Transforming Africa Network and the Youth Alliance for Leadership and Development in Africa (YALDA) are partnering to organize monthly roundtables on development topics. Their purpose is to allow dialogue among Africa’s youth, and prepare some youth-grown solutions to influence policymaking in Africa.
Organized by Youth Transforming Africa and the Youth Alliance for Leadership and Development in Africa, with the support of the World Bank in Africa
The Youth Transforming Africa (YTA) is a community built on the Blog4Dev network, gathering the winners of this annual competition organized by the World Bank in Africa. So far, 70 people covering 38 countries are part of YTA. Beyond the network, there is a large community of young Africans interested in the Continent’s development. The YTA page on Facebook has more than 3000 followers. The community is regularly organizing roundtables on development topics to allow dialogue among Africa’s youth, and prepare some youth-grown solutions to influence policymaking in Africa.
The Youth Alliance for Leadership and Development in Africa (YALDA) (www.yaldafrica.org) is a coalition of students and youth in Africa and abroad, dedicated to cultivating the capacity of African youth leaders for the development of the continent. With presence in more than 15 African countries and in the diaspora. YALDA as an organization assists young Africans embrace innovation and help them generate ideas that will help address Africa’s challenges and create employment for their peers. It also equips young Africans with practical skills and necessary resources that will aid them in their various endeavors and to be phenomenal employers. Most importantly, YALDA strive to expose youth across Africa to organizations that will provide them with the resources, capacity building and support.
Dr. Francis Mangeni (speaker)

Head of Trade Promotion and Programs, African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat
Dr. Francis Mangeni has held various Professional Positions in his career spanning over 20 years. He is an Advocate of the High Court of Uganda and has taught Law at Makerere University and Law Development Centre on the Bar Course, as well as the Faculty of Technology at Makerere University, the Management Training Institute and the Police Training School in Uganda. He taught Law at the London School of Economics and Political Science in the United Kingdom. He was Legal Advisor to the Government of the Republic of Malawi on the Multilateral Trade System and Regional Integration. He was Advisor on Intellectual Property at the UN South Centre based in Geneva to the Geneva-based African Embassies covering WTO and WIPO. He was Senior Economist and Diplomat at the African Union Embassy to the UN the WTO and the Common Fund for Commodities based in Geneva and Holland. He was Africa Regional Trade Policy Advisor based at the African Union Commission in Addis Ababa Ethiopia. He was a Member of the Uganda Inter-Institutional Ministerial Committee. He did various consultancies for the UN Economic Commission for Africa, the UN Conference on Trade and Development, UN International Labour Organisation, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the East African Community, the Southern African Development Community, Government of Uganda, among others.

Claire Kfouri (speaker)

Manager, Regional Integration Department for Africa and the Middle East North Africa, the World Bank
Claire A. Kfouri is the Manager of the Regional Integration Department for Africa and the Middle East North Africa at the World Bank where she oversees an active portfolio of over 14 billion USD and manages the IDA Regional Integration Windows for Africa and MENA. A Canadian and Lebanese national, Claire joined the World Bank in 2006 as a Water and Sanitation Specialist after working in the private sector as a consulting engineer and advisor in the fields of project management and infrastructure development. She is a certified Professional Engineer, holds a PhD in Civil Engineering and Program Management from the University of Maryland, a Masters in Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, MA and undergraduate degrees in water resources engineering from the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada.

Nicolatte Buliani Mutuku (speaker)

Founder, Walking the African Journey
Nicolatte Matuku was recently appointed the CEO of Association of African Future (AAFL). She also holds the position of Country Director for South Africa batbthe Africa Agriculture Agenda headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. Nicolatte also co-founded a youth development organization "Walking The African Journey" in the SADC Region. She sits on the board of St Mary's Adi Health Centre Uganda and farm. Nicolette is a shareholder at one of Zimbabwe's biggest digital TVs, called ZimCelebs a media empowerment, for upcoming media professionals.

Dassidi Nideou (speaker)

Post-Doctoral Researcher in Poultry Science, Regional Center of Excellence in Poultry Science, University of Lomé, Togo
Dassidi Nideou is an engineer in animal husbandry and holds a PhD in poultry sciences. His research has focused on the impact of parental (broiler-type breeding hens) feeding on their offspring in order to improve their production performance. Currently, Dassidi is enrolled in post-doctoral studies at the Regional Centre of Excellence on Avian Sciences (CERSA) at the University of Lomé in Togo, where he is pursuing scientific research to identify capacity building needs of various actors involved in the poultry sector. He intends to pursue his career in higher education, particularly in applied research, to help develop the skills needed to ensure food security across the African continent.

Chuks Okoriekwe (moderator)

President, YALDA Nigeria

Fauzia Abidi Idle (moderator)

Blog4Dev 2020 winner, Kenya