Entrepreneurship, debt-relief top Obama, African youths’ discussion

Debt forgiveness, entrepreneurship, gender equality, and the African Growth and Opportunity Act topped the discussion on Monday when U.S. President Barack Obama met young African leaders under the Young African Leaders Initiative.

Among the young African leaders is Vwoke Ighure, BusinessDay’s corporate services and strategy manager.

Drawn from 49 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, the group had the opportunity to question and challenge Obama ahead of their countries’ leaders who will also gather in Washington DC next week for the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit.

“The security and prosperity and justice that we seek in the world cannot be achieved without a strong and prosperous and self-reliant Africa,” the U.S. president told delegates at the Young African Leaders Initiative presidential summit.

About 500 young African leaders have spent the past six weeks at universities across the United States learning leadership and networking skills they can deploy in their countries to strengthen democracy, build businesses and tackle issues of peace and security.

One of the early questions, about his commitment to closing gender inequality gaps, seemed like an easy one for Obama. “You will not find anybody more committed to this issue than I am,” he responded, adding that one of the single best measures for the success of a country is how it treats its women.

Obama stressed that any U.S. government programme in Africa — be it related to education, health, small business or economic development — will include a gender equality component.

Several of the other questions touched on issues that the president said would be priorities at next week’s summit, like entrepreneurship and improved access to finance — especially start-up capital.

Too many African entrepreneurs lack the seed money to start businesses, and Obama said that the U.S. government will work with existing programmes, determine the financing gaps and ensure that resources are being utilised in the best ways possible so that young entrepreneurs are able to start small and medium businesses. It’s critical that financing be available to everyone and not just those with connections, he insisted.

Governance and transparency is also key to ensuring that countries have an environment that will enable those businesses to grow. The president acknowledged that governance can be a sensitive issue, but emphasised that it is critical for the success of African countries.