African Youth called towards being active in the development of the Continent

This was addressed by Christabel Dadzie, the Human Resource Manager at Ashesi University College and Founder of Ahaspora, while in Rwanda.

“We are encouraging Africans, mostly the youth in the West, to return to their home countries. We are putting in place a guideline and facilities to help them return. They must repatriate the knowledge they got so to advance the African continent. Our approach is to organize a platform for young Africans so that they exchange constructive ideas for the benefit of Africa,” said Christabel Dadzié.

The Mo Ibrahim Foundation’s 2018 report revealed that 60% of the African population is under 25 years old. More than 70,000 African intellectuals migrate annually to other continents in search of remunerating jobs.

The Rwanda Education Board (REB) issued a report in July 2017 making about 120 young people receiving scholarships abroad. According to the report, they consume each year around 6 to 8 billion francs, and that, at the end of their studies, only half of them return to the country.

January Gasana, the former CEO of REB, said these young people studying in the West, are asked to return home, free ticket offered, do everything to show that they are not wanting to return to participate in the reconstruction of their country.

Christabel Dadzie, the founder of AHASPORA, also went to university in the US 13 years ago. She decided to return to her country Ghana, after college, to start an organization sensitizing the Ghanaian youth in foreign universities to come back to their country to build self-confidence, development, and leadership in their country.

” I loved my homeland for an important reason. Everything I do in my homeland is totally different from how I would do it in the USA. There, social wealth is there enough. Yet at home, there is a person financially unable to afford school. A good financial or counseling action on their behalf can help the person finish university studies. Why do I have to stay in the West when my presence in the country is more needed,” said Dadzié

Dadzié added that African states are struggling to put in place promotional policies that allow their citizens living in the diaspora to return home to do business and invest.