AfDB’s Adesina Says Youths Need Capital, Not ₦10,000 Handouts, in Bid to Curb Japa

The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, stated that youths in Nigeria and the 51 other African countries do not require handouts under the guise of empowerment schemes.

Instead, he emphasized the need for capital to fund their ideas and help turn those ideas into lasting wealth.

“In the case of young people and the japa syndrome, it’s a big loss for us,” Adesina said during an interview aired on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Thursday, April 10.

“Young people don’t need freebies; they don’t need people saying: ‘I just want to give you an empowerment programme’.

“They have skills, they have knowledge, they have entrepreneurship capacity, they want to turn their ideas into great businesses.

“What young people need is not those empowerment programmes; they need capital, they need you to put your money at risk on their behalf,” he added.

The economist expressed concern over the migration phenomenon known as ‘Japa’ in Nigeria, describing it as a significant loss for both Nigeria and the entire African continent.

“We have over 465 million young people between the ages of 15 and 35,” he said, warning that Africa should not turn what should be its demographic asset into “somebody else’s problem” due to the inability to believe in young people and invest in their ideas for continental prosperity.

“I do not believe that the future of our young people lies in Europe; it doesn’t lie in America, it doesn’t lie in Canada, Japan or China; it should lie in Africa growing well, growing robustly and able to create quality jobs for our young people,” he said.

Adesina stated that Africa’s youth population should not be viewed as a problem for the continent, drawing a comparison to India and China’s large populations, which have not posed a problem for those countries.

“It is what you do with your population; how you skill them up.”

Adesina emphasized that if Africa’s youth are equipped with the right skills, good jobs, and social protection, it would lead to prosperity for the continent, as the demographic has significant purchasing power.

He also highlighted the importance of building consumption as part of Africa’s GDP, especially in a world with rising tariffs.

To support young entrepreneurs, the AfDB has created the Youth Entrepreneurship Development Bank to address financing challenges.

Additionally, the bank recently approved $100 million to establish the Nigerian Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Bank, aiming to mobilize $2 billion in investments for over 38,000 businesses led by young Africans.

“You cannot turn your demographic asset into somebody else’s problem. We have to put our money behind our young people to create opportunities for them.

“They don’t need N5,000, N10,000. You want to create youth-based wealth. If you don’t, who are the people who will pay the taxes in the future? Where are you going to get the capital mobilisation in the future? You have to therefore invest in the same demographic so you can reap in the future,” he said.