WEF Africa 2017: Creating Mixed Livelihoods for Africa’s Electric Youth, By Susan Mboya

The WEF Africa discussions closed with a clear rallying cry that now is the “Time for Impact,” and I firmly believe that it is our young people’s aspirations and ambitions, alongside innovative thinking and support that should give us the confidence that Africa’s future is in extremely safe hands.

I was honoured to recently participate in the 27th World Economic Forum on Africa discussion in Durban, which provided a chance to reflect on both the pace of progress across our continent, and some of the stubborn challenges we must overcome. This year’s discussion centered on “Achieving Inclusive Growth” and addressed one of our most pressing priorities – ensuring that Africa’s bright future brings benefits that can be enjoyed by all, and that no one is left behind, irrespective of community, country, tribe, religion or language.

A critical step towards achieving this aspiration is ensuring that we create sufficient opportunities for Africa’s youth. During a discussion alongside private sector, NGO and government leaders, this topic came under intense scrutiny for very good reason. Today, while more than 11 million youth annually enter the workforce, less than half this number of formal jobs are being created each year, leaving more and more young people unemployed. In as much as this challenge feels acute today, it will be compounded over time by fast demographic growth. By 2060, it is estimated that Africa’s youth population will spiral from 198 million today to almost 400 million.

But there is a silver lining in that Africa is blessed with the most aspirational, innovative and educated youth population ever, giving us the opportunity to turn one of today’s most pressing problems into one of tomorrow’s most powerful strengths. Persistent high youth unemployment carries very high social and economic costs, and can irrevocably damage communities, whereas a motivated, economically empowered young labour force can accelerate economic growth and bring tremendous benefits to families, communities, nations and the continent as a whole.

This is a topic that The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation is committed to helping to address. At the corresponding WEF Africa summit in 2015, we launched the Youth Empowered for Success (YES!) initiative. The programme aims to help create employment opportunities, and also provide young unemployed and underemployed Africans with access to necessary skills and resources to generate income. We set a goal of trialing the programme in six African countries and reaching 25,000 youth within three years, before scaling to reach 500,000 youth by 2022. We had bold ambitions, but we also realised we had a lot to learn. Two years on, we now know much more than we did then. The YES! initiative is underway in South Africa, Tunisia, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria and Uganda with 82 community YES! hubs working with almost 9,500 youth who have enrolled in the programme.

The clearest learning we have gained is that the very nature of work has changed – neither traditional terms such as ‘unemployed’ nor ‘employed’ accurately reflect the status of millions of African youth today. For most, their economic reality dictates that ‘not working’ simply isn’t an option. Rather, most youth have developed what we refer to as ‘mixed livelihoods’ or a ‘portfolio of work’ – a series of different income streams that can straddle the formal and informal sectors, including family and micro-enterprises.

This mixed livelihoods approach is rooted in practicality, as young Africans navigate unpredictable labour markets, and benefits both youth needing income and employers who cannot commit to full-time employees. Although informal, and unstructured, this trend has shown a propensity to drive economies; as we have learned more, we noted that in Kenya, the monthly income of youth with two or more income streams is 70 percent higher than those with just a single source of income, and it also means employers have more flexible talent that can help their businesses succeed.

While there are many admirable programmes focused on youth across Africa, studies show that over 70 percent of youth empowerment programmes do not meaningfully reduce the incidence of unemployment. It is, therefore, essential that we are cognisant of the way that todays’ labour market is changing, and that we are not training youth for a world of work that no longer exists, and is rooted in single nine-to-five employment. We need to prepare Africa’s youth to take advantage of the opportunities around them while providing them with access to income-generating opportunities. We also need to see how local ecosystems can be created for youth employment by working with private sector, governments and civil society to create a model that benefits all and is creating jobs which reflect the needs of all.

This is an incredibly dynamic and complex area – and there is no one size fits all. The nature and make-up of any “portfolio of work” will vary substantially by individual and community, and can include different traditional job disciplines across a variety of sectors. Therefore we all need to prepare youth with the foundational and transferrable skills that transcend one-dimensional jobs and allow them to navigate today’s new working world.

Lastly, we cannot be too prescriptive in the solutions that we provide. One of the reasons that YES! has proven credible and engaging for young people in Africa is that at its heart, the programme is youth-led. It includes training, content and formats that are directly requested from youth in the respective communities. No-one knows the dynamics and needs of the local individual communities more than the young people looking for work each day, and therefore, for any programme to be successful, it needs to listen, not preach, to youth.

Almost 1,500 influencers from across Africa participated in the WEF Africa discussions this year, including Heads of State, CEOs and global leaders of international organisations. Importantly weaving into the narrative was the unmistakably loud, determined and electric voice of Africa’s youth, who we should see as our salvation, not a problem to be solved. The WEF Africa discussions closed with a clear rallying cry that now is the “Time for Impact,” and I firmly believe that it is our young people’s aspirations and ambitions, alongside innovative thinking and support that should give us the confidence that Africa’s future is in extremely safe hands.

Susan Mboya is president of The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation.

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AND security sources said some officers of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) were furious over the jumbo contract described by one source as “a pure waste.” The sources, most of them military personnel, told our correspondent that, in addition to its sheer extravagance, the contract has also saddled the Nigerian military with helicopters that have limited or no combat utility.

The documents obtained by our correspondent reveal that Mr. Eze, the chief executive of Triax, received the gigantic sum of $466.5 million in order to weaponize six Puma helicopters with the aid of an Israeli company named Elbit Systems. This meant that each weaponized helicopter cost close to $78 million. “For the price of each helicopter provided by Engineer Arthur Eze, the Air Force could have acquired seven top grade military helicopters,” said one of our sources.

Our sources also noted that the haste with which the contract was initiated, approved and executed raised serious questions. A memo dated November 20, 2014 and submitted by the Chief of Air Staff, A.N. Amosu, revealed that Mr. Eze had on November 4, 2014 submitted a proposal to the office of the National Security Adviser proposing to supply the upgraded helicopters to the NAF. The tone of Mr. Eze’s letter, obtained by us, indicated that he was deeply involved in sourcing and supplying hardware to the Nigerian military as it is embroiled in a fight against Boko Haram militants.

An Air Force officer said he was alarmed at the alacrity with which Mr. Eze’s overinflated proposal was approved by the NSA’s office. The NAF followed with an equally quick endorsement sixteen days later.

One of our sources accused President Jonathan and Mr. Eze of using the refusal of the US to sell Cobra attack helicopters to Nigeria as an excuse to engage in a large-scale squandering of funds involving the Federal Government and Mr. Eze’s company, the Triax Company Nigeria Limited. “In the US, a brand new AH Cobra attack helicopter costs around $12 million each,” said a source at the NAF. He added: “That means that, with $400 million, Nigeria could have purchased up to 40 brand new helicopters.”

According to the source, the Cobra attack helicopter is one of the best US-made helicopters. “It is highly effective in the battlefield. It would have given us big battlefield advantage over Boko Haram,” he said.

In an additional proposal, Mr. Eze’s company sought to purchase 4,000 57mm S5 rockets, 400 80mm S8 rockets, 500 general-purpose bombs, and 20,000 units of unguided rockets. His company also received a contract to refurbish three C-130 planes that had been sitting at the hanger of the Nigerian Air Force for several years.

A final invoice Mr. Eze submitted to the Nigerian government showed that he would receive $466, 500,000 to supply six upgraded Puma helicopters, four units of single-seater Sukhoi Su-25K (“Frog-foot”) Soviet-made ground attack jets, and two upgraded Su-25UB trainers for $330 million. In addition, he would receive $14 million for the shipping of platforms/ground support/line replacement of the six Puma helicopters; $44 million for some arms and ammunition earlier proposed; $37 million for the maintenance of C-130 engines, and $40 million for unspecified armaments for the NAF.

Our military sources stated that Mr. Eze’s invoice for the supply of the refurbished aircraft was massively inflated by international and Nigerian standards.

Several of the sources said Triax delivered the substandard equipment after Mr. Eze further padded the cost of the refurbished helicopters and the C-130. The sources revealed that, since February 15, 2015, when Chief of Air Staff Amosu showed off the helicopters and C-130 planes, none of the aircraft has been deployed even once to fight Boko Haram militants. “They are not in any combat-ready condition,” one officer fumed. “We are looking at a total waste of money for no good reason.”

SaharaReporters could not ascertain from Mr. Amosu whether the Air Force had taken delivery of the other items listed on the invoice Mr. Eze had signed and submitted to the NSA’s office.

Mr. Eze’s partners in the defense deals is Elbit Systems, an Israeli company that has been involved in several scandalous defense contracts in Nigeria, including a multimillion dollar internet spying project.

Our sources wondered why the Nigerian government, which is in a critical stage of counter-insurgency operations against Islamist group Boko Haram, would strike such an overinflated deal with Mr. Eze’s firm to purchase antiquated helicopters and other equipment that were virtually discarded by Romania.

One clear answer may be found in the fact that Mr. Eze is one of the biggest personal financiers of Mr. Jonathan’s re-election. The businessman, who also controls huge interests in oil fields both in Nigeria and other West African countries, has been funneling millions of dollars into Mr. Jonathan’s campaign, said an insider PDP source. The businessman is extremely close to Mr. Jonathan and is reportedly well liked by First Lady Patience Jonathan because of his lavish presents to her, including million dollar gifts.

Mr. Eze is a big-spending billionaire who is an expert at ingratiating himself with those in power. During the brutal dictatorship led by the late General Sani Abacha, Mr. Eze became one of the closest confidantes of the general and his wife. He received a huge windfall when Mr. Abacha handed him the $120 million contract for rural electricity and water projects in the southeastern states. Even though the contract sum was borrowed from the African Development Bank, Mr. Eze pocketed the money without doing any of the projects, a scandal that led to the firing of the bank’s chief executive.

At the height of Mr. Abacha’s repression, Mr. Eze used to fly traditional rulers from the southeast on frequent visits to pledge loyalty to the dictator in Abuja. The Triax executive even stated once that he would go into exile if Mr. Abacha gave up power to an elected government.

Mr. Eze warmed his way to President Olusegun Obasanjo. As Mr. Obasanjo sought to change the constitution to extend his tenure, Mr. Eze was a vociferous supporter of the scheme.

His closeness to President Jonathan and his wife has brought him more riches through inflated contracts and great political clout. At the urging of Mr. Jonathan and his wife, the PDP national headquarters in Abuja allowed Mr. Eze to determine most of those announced as winners of PDP primaries for Federal legislative seats in the southeast, but especially in his home state of Anambra. In most cases, the businessman’s candidates were declared winners of primaries that were either not held or were heavily manipulated. THIS

WEF Africa 2017: Creating Mixed Livelihoods for Africa’s Electric Youth, By Susan Mboya

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