The event, organised by the German Embassy in Accra, started on January 17, and ended on January, 18, 2017.

“We are happy that the conference takes place in Accra as Ghana is an important hub for Germany in Africa,” the German Ambassador to Ghana, Christoph Retzlaff stated.

The Regional Director of Sub-Saharan Africa of the German Federal Foreign Ministry, Georg Schmidt, was in Ghana for the conference.

During his stay, he met stakeholders of the Ghanaian-German bilateral cooperation and held political talks.

The conference, amongst other things, answered the question on the influence of the demographics on political issues and how the youth could be empowered.

The German diplomats discussed several issues and compared the situation of young people in their host countries, and shared their views on the instruments used to involve the youth in political processes.

The German Embassy had a panel discussion in order to get a detailed idea of concerns and wishes of the Ghanaian youth.

The panelists were representatives from political parties, think tanks, universities and the cultural and religious sphere.
All of them worked intensively with personalities including Patrick Awuah, founder of Ashesi University.

Mr Awuah stressed the need for economic education, the need to educate young people to create jobs and the need to make them active participants in the African economy.

With regards to culture, another panelist, Nana Ofori Atta-Ayim, Director of the Arts Institution, said that there were already many cultural initiatives by young Africans that were also economically relevant.

She rather urged for a change of narrative about Europe and its image that was being portrayed to Africans.

Participants agreed that good governance, fair trade and good education were key elements for positive transformation in Africa.

Over the next few years, Germany would intensify its cooperation with the African continent.

It has pledged to make Africa’s development a core topic at the G20 summit, which Germany is chairing this year.

In preparation for the summit, G20 countries would discuss mechanisms to encourage private investment in Africa, and consider how to improve economic conditions on the continent.

Germany wants to make its contribution to creating better prospects for the youth in Africa.