Entrepreneurship, debt-relief top Obama, African youth discuss in Washington

July 29, 2014 | Filed under: Africa,USA,World | Author: Editor

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Debt forgiveness, entrepreneurship, gender equality, and the African Growth and Opportunity Act topped the discuss Monday when U.S. President Barack Obama met young African leaders under the Young African Leaders Initiative, among them Vwoke Ighure BusinessDay’s Corporate Services and Strategy manager.
Drawn from 49 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, the group had the opportunity to question and challenge Obama ahead of their countries’ leaders who will also gather in Washington DC next week for the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit.


“The security and prosperity and justice that we seek in the world cannot be achieved without a strong and prosperous and self-reliant Africa,” the U.S. president told delegates at the Young African Leaders Initiative presidential summit.
About 500 young African leaders have spent the past six weeks at universities across the United States learning leadership and networking skills they can deploy in their countries to strengthen democracy, build businesses and tackle issues of peace and security.
One of the early questions, about his commitment to closing gender inequality gaps, seemed like an easy one for Obama.
“You will not find anybody more committed to this issue than I am,” he responded, adding that one of the single best measures for the success of a country is how it treats its women.
Obama stressed that any U.S. government program in Africa — be it related to education, health, small business or economic development — will include a gender equality component.
An enabling environment for African business
Several of the other questions touched on issues that the president said would be priorities at next week’s summit, like entrepreneurship and improved access to finance — especially start-up capital.
Too many African entrepreneurs lack the seed money to start businesses, and Obama said that the U.S. government will work with existing programs, determine the financing gaps and ensure that resources are being utilized in the best ways possible so that young entrepreneurs are able to start small and medium businesses. It’s critical that financing be available to everyone and not just those with connections, he insisted.
Governance and transparency is also key to ensuring that countries have an environment that will enable those businesses to grow. The president acknowledged that governance can be a sensitive issue, but emphasized that it is critical for the success of African countries.
“Regardless of the resources a country possesses, regardless of how talented the people are, if you do not have a basic system of rule of law, of respect for civil rights and human rights, if you do not give people a credible legitimate way to work through the political process to express their aspirations, if you don’t respect basic freedom of speech and freedom of assembly … if you do not have an economic system that is transparent and accountable … If you don’t have those basic mechanisms it is very rare for a country to succeed,” Obama said.
Young people have a critical role to play and need to hold their leadership to high standards, he said, adding that they shouldn’t be “fooled” by the notion that there is a different, African way of government — one that involves setting up Swiss bank accounts and long terms in office.