C-River Finance Commissioner tasks African leaders on youth in economic devt

C-River Finance Commissioner tasks African leaders on youth in economic devt

Asuquo Ekpenyong By Emma Una, CALABAR

CROSS River State Commissioner for Finance, Mr Asuquo Ekpenyong, has called on African leaders to urgently create a pathway for youths to thrive and take active part in building the continent’s economy through trade.

Speaking at the Intra-Africa Trade Conference in Durban, South Africa South Africa , Mr Ekpenyong who represented the state revealed that the Cross River State Governor, Sir Ben Ayade understands the need in youths participation in economic growth and has been intergrating them as a critical component in development to ensure total participation of youths in the local economy.

“Having understood that one of the greatest challenges facing the country at the moment stems from the non-utilisation of the youth factor in our economy, the Governor, has taken steps to adopt the simplest ways to utilise their high level of energy through engagement in the agricultural sector and trade ” he explained.

The Commissioner opined that there is a preponderance of subsistence farming in Africa today and Nigeria in particular and Governor Ayade has chosen to develop mechanised farming model to ensure efficient and effective output in the State.

He noted that there are several barriers that inhibit entry into mechanised farming such as the challenges of acquisition of large scale land, land preparation, acquisition of machinery/equipment, working capital etc.

“Therefore, what the Governor has done is to develop a scheme called, 360 Degree Model to drive youth participation in mechanised farming.

“The administration is achieving this by identifying young people in the state that are interested in agriculture and has designed a capacity building and skills acquisition programme to develop their skills and capabilities,

“The administration has proceeded to acquire large parcels of land, as well as, develope, demarcate and allocate them to beneficiaries of the training programme.

“These beneficiaries are also being provided with inputs and working capital. Under this 360 Model, the state ultimately intends to utilize the various produce from these farms for processing in the state owned industries such as the Cocoa Processing Mill, The Rice Mill etc”, Ekpenyong stated .

The Commissioner said although preliminary processes have begun and the program framework developed, the challenge to the program’s full implementation has been inadequate capital to facilitate the full program.“On the continent today, there are approximately 541 Million people between the ages of 0 to 15 years, while a further estimated 455 Million people are between the ages of 16 to 35 years […]

Stay in the Know!

Sign up for the latest news and information on African Companies and Economy.

By signing up, you agree to receive MoneyInAfrica offers, promotions and other commercial messages. You may unsubscribe at any time.

Leave a Reply