Innovative Approach to Socio-Economic Development

Africa’s experimentation with Structural Adjustment Programs and other development initiatives has failed to effectively address economic problems. This discussion will explore a variety of potential contributions of innovation to economic development. Innovation helps to drive economic growth and address socio-economic challenges such as poverty. This discourse will investigate how different strategies which support innovation have to be adapted to the specific conditions of emerging and developing countries in Africa. There is a need for strategic transformative reforms in governance structures, intra-Africa cooperation, and development pathways that enhance transitions towards wealth creation. The discussion will present a cross-sectoral approach to achieving development as a continent.

The Future of Work in Africa- Preparing Emerging Leaders

The structural transformation and progress in terms of sustainable development have been limited in Africa. The growth process has neither been inclusive nor equitable. It has also not been transformational enough to respond to challenges ushered by external and internal economic shocks, high unemployment rates, rapid urbanization, and changing demographic patterns largely characterized by a youth bulge. Africa is home to more than 1 billion people, and almost 60% of the population in 2019 is under the age of 25, making Africa the world’s youngest continent. Africa is a diverse continent offering human and natural resources that have the potential to yield inclusive growth and wipe out poverty in the region, enabling Africans across the continent to live healthier and more prosperous lives. With the world’s largest free trade area and a 1.2 billion-person market, the continent is creating an entirely new development path, harnessing the potential of its resources and people. It is the responsibility of all sectors to collaborate on strategies that can surmount the challenge of poverty, inequality, and unemployment.

Leave No one behind: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

The call for a ‘more inclusive’ development trajectory originates in the realization that, despite high economic growth over the first decade of the 2000s, large groups of people remain excluded from this greater prosperity. This panel discussion will look at three aspects of inequalities and the opportunities available for driving inclusive strategies for optimal development- Gender inequality, inequalities in people living with disabilities and financial inclusion. In the continuous efforts to advance development of Africa, it is important for interventions and strategies to cut across various demography.

THEME

Fostering Ownership: Driving Sustainable Impact in Communities across Africa.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Tsitsi Masiyiwa : Executive Chair and Co-Founder of Higherlife Foundation, Zimbabwe