YouthConnekt Africa Hub (YCA) is an African home-grown solution positioned to provide relevant solutions for the global South and to support the implementation of relevant South-South initiatives to empower youth. The YCA Hub operates as a pan-African platform with the vision of connecting African youth for socio-economic transformation.
The YCA Hub aims to contribute to the achievement of Africa’s SDGs mandate, the AU 2063 agenda, and AU Youth Charter. Through national YouthConnekt initiatives (YouthConnekt National Programmes), the Hub accomplishes its mandate by:
Since its launch, many African countries have demonstrated strong interest in learning about YouthConnekt and replicating the YouthConnekt model in the irrespective countries. As a result, YouthConnekt has scaled up beyond Rwanda to 23 African countries.
YouthConnekt has won the following awards:
23 African Countries have launched the YouthConnekt program and more are scaling up their efforts.
Bridging the gap between different nations by bringing together government leaders & policy influencers. Implementing youth policies to share knowledge & ideas that can assist others in achieving their own goals for their youth aligned with the African Youth Charter and the SDGs.
Identifying existing programs aligned with the YouthConnekt goals and facilitate a platform to work together to achieve our common goals. These programs will further assist in measuring, monitoring & maintaining successful initiatives aligned with the YouthConnekt objectives.
We will seek partnerships with private sector, government institutions, civic society, development partners, and academia that will be responsible for delivering programs, bringing other partners on board, innovating & providing solutions for implementation challenges.
The YouthConnekt Africa Summit is an annual convening that connects youth from across the continent and beyond with policy influencers, political leaders, public/private and development sector institutions to engage, discuss, design, and accelerate youth empowerment efforts at the continent level. In addition, every year the summit creates a platform for a larger number of young people from all over the world to learn and engage in YouthConnekt Africa’s youth development programs. YouthConnekt Africa Summit provides a platform for all partners involved in youth development to synergize around policies, programs and partnerships that will connect youth for continental transformation.
In March 2018, forty-four African heads of state gathered in Kigali, Rwanda to sign the framework for the AfCFTA to create a single continental market for goods and services, with free movement of business people and investments. Incurrent changing global economic outlook with hike in tariffs and protectionism, AfCFTA provides opportunities to African nations to look inward and increase access to regional markets. Considering the importance and impact of AfCFTA on regional economies, phenomenal potential for intra-continental trade, and opportunities to access new markets, the YCA plan to engage, encourage, and connect 226 million young African as the biggest stakeholder to exploit the trade opportunities, enhance trade capacities, gain news skills to contribute to sustainable trade development.
Hosted by the Government of the Republic of Ghana, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),the 2021 YouthConnekt Africa Summit will provide a platform for all partners involved in youth development to synergize around policies, programs and partnerships that position African youth to cater to the AfCFTA and advance regional integration. Held in Accra, the capital city of the Republic of Ghana, the2021 YouthConnekt Summit will offer, over three days, a combination of informative, high-level plenaries, panel discussions, keynote speeches, small group workshops, research presentations, project pitching, awards, off-site activities, learning visits, exhibition, and cultural events
