Yale Model AU conference pushes for youth-led policy, enterprise innovation

Marking five years of fostering youth leadership, the Yale Model African Union ended its Accra conference on March 15 after three days of dialogue and collaboration, with delegates exploring how policy and enterprise can intersect to transform Africa’s economic future.

This year’s programme featured AU committee simulations, leadership workshops, a University and Career Fair, and the Mandate-to-Market Innovation Pitch Contest.

A key panel, ‘Designing the Future: Creativity at the Intersection of Policy and Enterprise,’ explored how innovation, policy design, and private-sector leadership can jointly drive sustainable development and economic transformation.

Delegates left Accra with new frameworks for linking governance to enterprise, with organisers saying the conference reinforced the role of youth in shaping Africa’s policy landscape. The event underscored a growing push to move from mandate to market — turning policy ideas into bankable solutions led by young Africans.

Dennis Sampong, country director of Fludor Ghana, a subsidiary of TGI Group, in a panel discussion drew from his extensive experience in Ghana’s agricultural sector.

Sampong shared insights on the urgent need to integrate youth into the cocoa value chain and the importance of private sector participation in shaping policy outcomes.

Speaking to a room of young leaders and aspiring policymakers, he emphasized the demographic imperative driving Africa’s development agenda.

“The future of Africa is the youth. If you look at Ghana, more than 60 percent of the population is under the age of 35,” he said

“Anything we’re doing now is going to be the youth’s future,” he noted. “Nobody can do better for Africa except ourselves,” he added.

He also highlighted the challenges facing Ghana’s cocoa sector, noting that the average farmer is between 55 and 60 years old, and stressed the need to attract young people into agriculture through modern technologies.

“If our farmers used to use cutlasses and hoes to do cocoa, what other technologies can we bring in?” he asked.

“As part of our training programs, we encourage young people to go into cocoa and use modern ways of going about their farming activities,” he said.

Sampong was joined on the panel by Audrey S-Darko, CEO, Sabon Sake, Jide Pratt, country pilot manager, TradeGrid and moderator Ericka K. Tenta, co-head of panel strategy, Yale Africa Startup Review.

​The panel emphasised the importance of collaboration between policymakers, entrepreneurs, and private sector organizations in translating policy ideas into practical and scalable development solutions.

The Yale Model African Union also featured keynote addresses from Tara Squire, executive director for consumer banking at Ecobank Ghana, and Kabral Blay-Amhere, vice president of the Council on Foreign Affairs-Ghana.

Other speakers included George Opare Addo, Ghana’s minister of Youth Development and Engagement; Rosemary Mbabzi of Rwanda; and Festus Kofi Aubyn of WANEP, among others.

Fludor Ghana’s participation was part of TGI Group’s broader presence at the conference as a sponsor and career fair exhibitor, reinforcing the organisation’s commitment to supporting youth empowerment initiatives across Africa.