YouthConnekt Namibia officially launched

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The Deputy Minister of Sport, Youth and National Service, Emma Kantema-Gaomas, on Wednesday officially launched the YouthConnekt Namibia initiative at Otjiwarongo in the Otjozondjupa Region.

Kantema-Gaomas said YouthConnekt Namibia aims to involve Namibian youth in the YouthConnekt Africa Hub, where they will be expected to share ideas, submit business initiatives and acquire technical development skills.

“We want to reach out to all youth in our country and involve them in the affairs of African Continental Free Trade Agreements, where they will be expected to trade with other African countries to consequently create jobs for themselves,” she said.

The deputy minister explained that YouthConnekt is a Pan-African programme established in 2020 by the African Union (AU) to design and expedite suitable socio-economic solutions and support intergovernmental knowledge exchange policies for African youth development programmes.

“This African youth programme is partly backed by the United Nations (UN) technically and financially,” she said.

Kantema-Gaomas further stated that so far, 28 African countries including Namibia which joined in May 2022, form part of YouthConnekt Africa.

The fifth YouthConnekt Africa Summit will take place in Kigali, Rwanda in October this year, where hundreds of young people from the member states of YouthConnekt Africa will be expected to gather and share experiences, knowledge and skills.

Some of the members of YouthConnekt Namibia will attend the summit in Kigali, said Kantema-Gaomas.

Wednesday’s launch was amongst others attended by several officials from the UN, Otjozondjupa Governor James Uerikua and nearly 400 young people from the 14 regions of the country.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency