Former President of the African Development Bank, AfDB, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has challenged African governments to stop treating their growing youth population as a burden and instead invest in education, healthcare, skills, technology and entrepreneurship to drive economic transformation.
Adesina warned that Africa’s demographic advantage will remain unrealised unless governments deliberately equip young people with capabilities, resources and opportunities to create businesses, develop technologies and generate employment.
He made the call while delivering the keynote address titled “Africa Next: Building the Demographic Asset Class,” at the inaugural Seyi Tinubu Colloquium in Lagos on Monday.
The colloquium brought together political leaders, business executives, policymakers and youth advocates to discuss leadership, enterprise, innovation and the role of young people in shaping Nigeria’s future.
“People are not liabilities. Young people are not liabilities. A young growing population is not a liability,” Adesina said.
He argued that population growth alone cannot guarantee prosperity, insisting that the real value of human resources depends on how effectively people are educated, skilled, kept healthy and connected to economic opportunities.
According to him, Africa’s challenge is not the size of its youthful population but the failure of economic and institutional systems to develop its potential.
Governments, he said, must move beyond measuring demographic growth to ask what young people will be able to create, what businesses they can establish and what technologies they can develop.
Adesina identified quality education as critical to economic development, arguing that investment in human capability is as important as spending on roads, electricity and transport networks.
He described education and intellectual capacity as essential to building societies capable of innovating, competing globally and generating sustainable prosperity.
He urged African youths to embrace artificial intelligence and digital technologies, while developing solutions tailored to the continent’s needs rather than remaining consumers of foreign innovations.
A skilled young person with access to technology, capital and markets, he said, can progress from job seeker to business owner and employer.
Adesina warned that unemployment and limited opportunities should not be interpreted as lack of ambition among youths. Instead, the problem lies in inadequate education, limited access to finance, unreliable infrastructure and institutions that fail to connect talent with opportunities.
The development economist called for stronger support for entrepreneurship through financing systems capable of backing young business owners who lack conventional collateral.
He argued that financial institutions and governments must look beyond risks associated with young entrepreneurs and recognise their potential to create businesses, jobs and wealth.
Without such support, he warned, Africa risks wasting the productive capacity of a generation that could accelerate growth and improve competitiveness.
N101m Judgement Debt: Again, SERAP Scuttles Own Appeal
He emphasised the need for reliable electricity, effective institutions and an enabling business environment to allow young people turn ideas into viable enterprises.
Adesina urged youths to position themselves at the forefront of emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, digital services and innovation-driven enterprise, noting that digital technology could allow African entrepreneurs develop products for international markets.
However, he stressed the need for Africa to adapt technologies to address its own realities in agriculture, healthcare and other sectors.
He also called for deliberate investment in healthcare, noting that a productive population requires health and wellbeing to participate in economic activity.
Adesina highlighted youth-focused initiatives in Nigeria, including the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND, the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund, and the Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises, i-DICE, programme.
His broader argument was that sustained investment must connect learning and skills to productive opportunities.
“The more important questions are: What will they be able to do? What will they create? What businesses will they build?” he asked.
He urged African leaders to make youth empowerment a core economic priority, warning that future prosperity will depend less on the number of young people than on what they are enabled to accomplish.
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu also called for greater investment in youth leadership, mentorship, education and innovation, urging established leaders to create opportunities for younger people to gain experience and contribute to nation-building.
