The need for the upskilling of youths in Africa in the relevant soft skills cannot be overemphasized. In the current world where interconnectedness has been streamlined, a person’s network has become a more valuable asset that is priced above his or her knowledge.
This much was made known by the Convener of the Global Mentorship Conference for African Youths in partnership with UNLEASH Denmark during her welcome note at a virtual press conference.
Aderinsola Adio-Adepoju, Convener of the Global Mentorship Conference for African Youths and founder of I-Train Africa stated that, “There is a need for literate African Youths to understand the ‘Whys before the How’s and that, despite a large number of youths in Africa are literate, they don’t understand why they are on their current academic pursuit or life path. And this needs to be addressed if they are to arrive in the future, they envision for themselves.
In the same vein speaking at the press conference, the patron of the Global Mentorship Conference for African Youths and CEO of AIDA resources, Alhaji Abdullahi Barau Abubakar said:
‘’The education within the four walls of the school is not enough to get literate youths in Africa to the desired destination, they would need direction and clarity especially if the youth generations of today who have been froth with a narrative of a lack, desire to change for the better”.
Sustainable partnership and collaboration in this time is a driving enabler to achieve the required impact of the program and one key objective of the organizers of the event is for more youths on the continent to access global opportunities using their works in the social good space.
The program lead for UNLEASH Denmark Gregory Pepper also commented that the support for the Global Mentorship Conference for African Youths not only mirrors some of the key objectives of the UNLEASH as an organization but also is in line with the aims of UNLEASH in contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals which addresses global problems.”
On his part, the African Outreach Manager at Project Access, Tom Kirkham touched on the post-event activities and how this could be one of the best ways to secure scholarships and expose participants to the opportunities that exist in Europe and the USA for less privileged African Youths.
He charged youths to register for the event and have access to information that could expose them to opportunities unknown to them.
Clarity must be at the forefront of the education of African youths because we can bear witness to problems faced by youth on the continent due to a lack of life skills and an understanding of the importance of a network.
The press conference came to a close with other partners of the event UNLEASH Ambassador Ghana Andrew Akoto- Addo, Janet Obaemo of Odaja Mentorship Programme, and Mr Rotimi Eyitayo of Team masters Limited giving insight into their unique but similar experiences and how early exposure to clarity and direction was one of the components to them achieving their goals as African citizens.
The Global Mentorship Conference for African Youths is a FREE initiative that will be held on the virtual networking and conferencing platform Hopin.