Africa will mature by giving priority to its own citizens, especially its millennials, who are the most hopeful generations across the world.
Speaking during a panel discussion at the ongoing Kusi Ideas Festival at Intare Arena in Kigali Rwanda, Mukhisa Kituyi, the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), said that the continent currently has a generation of young people who are more interested in collaborations than competition.
The discussion themed; “Borderless Africa and why it is a winner” saw Dr. Kituyi, Mr. Linus Gitahi, a board member of Msingi East Africa and Clare Akamanzi, the chief executive officer of Rwanda Development Board (RDB) push for a borderless continent that can allow young people to freely interact, invest and migrate within the continent as they seek to push for their own growth country.
“These young people for opportunities beyond national frontiers. They overlook analogue boundaries and all the physical boundaries as they chase their dreams. This is the future and governments now need to create policies for them to ease travel, access and movement across the continent.” Dr. Kituyi said.
The continent leaders were also challenged to open up their borders to migrants and allow them to thrive within the continent as opposed to being self-centred and closed up, putting restrictive travel and migration policies.
“We need to understand that almost 53 per cent of migrant movements is intra African and for Africa, we should take advantage of this. Migrants are good both for the country they move to in terms of new and fresh human resource and also the countries they come from, through remittances. We need to encourage that,” Dr. Kituyi said.
