The move, he said, was the bank’s intervention geared towards supporting the growth of small businesses and promoting their integration into national, regional, and continental value chains.

In his opening remarks at the commencement of seminars marking the 29th annual meetings of the African Export-Import Bank being held in Cairo, Egypt, Prof.Oramah said “it is our view that the youth would be the catalytic force to the realisation of the continental agenda.”

The meeting is being held under the theme “Realising the AfCFTA Potential in the Post-COVID-19 Era—Leveraging the Power of The Youth.”

The youth, he said was central to the Asian Miracle that propelled Southeast Asia from poverty to prosperity from the 1970s to the 1990s.

“In 1980, the population under 45 years in China, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan ranged between 76 per cent and 80 per cent,” he said.

He said “the good news is that Africa finds itself at the exact spot as the US and Canada in the 1900s and Developing Asia in the 70s, 80s and 90s. Today 85 per cent of the continent’s population is under 45, and 45 per cent are between 15 and 45 years old. This asset in our hands is perhaps the greatest resource, an asset much more valuable than all the oil and mineral resources.”

The African youth, he said, was beginning to make significant contributions to economic transformation across the continent.

He cited the example of Mr AlikoDangote of Nigeria who as a young man in his 20s, began to build what has become a global multi-billion US dollar conglomerate that has pivoted him to become the wealthiest person in Africa.

“We have also launched an SME Development programme that will target the youth for training, access to markets and access to finance,” he said.

Africa, he said, must pay more attention to its culture and creative industries, as they hold the potent force for accelerating continental integration and were predominantly youth-based.

Afreximbank, he said was promoting the industry through a dedicated $500-million funding programme.

Mr Tarek Amer, Central Bank Governor of Egypt, said the theme for the event reflected the conviction of the government of Egypt that the youth held the key to Africa’s quest to industrialise.

He said the drive for industrialisation would not be successful if the youth were not given the needed support adding that African financial institutions were required to identify changes in the market to enable them to design tailored-made solutions to support the youth.

“The solutions to African problems can only happen within Africa. African countries must develop trust among themselves,” he said.

He said intra-African trade was key if the continent was to make any headway in developing its economies.

“Why is Egypt importing meat from Brazil but not from neighbouring countries? We need to really work on this,” he said.

The Governor called on African governments to support Afrieximbank to enable it to support trade on the continent.