Youth-led enterprises must be at the heart of Africa’s value chain revolution

Addis Ababa, 22 May 2026 - "Africa will not transform itself without its youth, and Africa's youth will not transform the continent without opportunities." This was the central message from Ms. Eunice G. Kamwendo, Director of the Economic Commission for Africa's Subregional Office for Southern Africa, during a pre-Africa Development Impact Forum webinar held on 14 April 2025 on the theme "Unlocking Regional Value Chains: Empowering Youth-Led Enterprises in Africa to Thrive Under AfCFTA".

Organized by ECA SRO-SA in collaboration with the Southern Africa Youth Forum, the webinar brought together policymakers, private-sector representatives, youth organizations, entrepreneurs and development partners to examine how the African Continental Free Trade Area can become a practical engine for youth entrepreneurship, industrialization and job creation.

Opening the session, Ms. Karima Bounemra Ben Soltane, Director of IDEP, said the Africa Development Impact Forum is being positioned as an action-oriented platform focused on implementation, measurable results and scalable development solutions. She noted that Africa must create approximately 15 million jobs annually to harness its demographic dividend, making youth employment and enterprise development central to the continent's transformation agenda.

Speakers emphasized that Africa's youthful population represents both an opportunity and a risk. While the continent has the world's youngest population, many young people remain trapped in unemployment, underemployment and informal survivalist businesses. Participants warned that without targeted support, youth-led enterprises will struggle to benefit from AfCFTA opportunities.

Mr. Saul Levin, Executive Director of Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies, said youth entrepreneurs often lack the conditions needed to build competitive businesses, including capital, work experience, market networks, technical skills and supportive institutions. He noted that many small enterprises remain concentrated in low-productivity sectors, limiting their capacity to integrate into regional value chains.

Mr. Khulekani Mathe, Chairperson of the SADC Business Council, stressed that national economies remain the foundation for successful regional integration. He called for stronger supplier development programmes that connect youth-led enterprises to large firms, improve quality standards and help small businesses scale from domestic markets into regional value chains.

Practical business experiences brought the discussion to life. Ms. Tasha Chitika, founder of Wingy General Dealers in Zambia, shared lessons from cross-border trade in iodized salt sourced from Namibia and Botswana. She highlighted access to reliable market information, high transport costs, intermediaries, foreign exchange constraints and border inefficiencies as major challenges for young traders. She also pointed to backload logistics, mobile money and the SADC Certificate of Origin as practical tools that can reduce costs and improve cross-border trade.

From Namibia, Ms. Katrina Amupolo of the Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board highlighted the importance of ecosystem partnerships involving governments, private sector actors, financial institutions and development partners. She presented supplier development, local content initiatives, export readiness support, certification assistance and digital platforms as critical tools for connecting youth-led enterprises to emerging value chains.

Participants agreed that AfCFTA implementation must be matched by practical interventions, including youth-focused trade finance, credit guarantees, standards certification support, digital payment systems, market intelligence platforms, mentorship and improved border infrastructure.

Closing the session, the meeting reaffirmed ECA commitment to move beyond dialogue toward implementation-focused support for youth entrepreneurship, supplier development and regional value chain integration.

The outcomes of the webinar will feed into preparations for the inaugural Africa Development Impact Forum, scheduled for June 2026 in Addis Ababa, where ECA and its partners will advance practical solutions to ensure that Africa's young entrepreneurs are not spectators, but drivers of the continent's trade and industrial transformation.

Issued by:
Communications Section
Economic Commission for Africa
PO Box 3001
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel: +251 11 551 5826
E-mail: [email protected]