Patrick Awuah former Microsoft Program Manager, also renowned for having started Ashesi University College in Ghana, believes the future of technology and development belongs to the youth.
He emphasises that effort has to be made to empower those who will shape our continents future.
The youth leadership potential in Africa is astonishing, he said, if leadership can empower young people, they will change the world.
Awuah made the observation today while speaking at the Open Innovation Africa Summit (OIAS) summit in Kenya where more than 200 government executives, innovators, VC companies, academics and developers from 26 countries across Africa have attended the three-day summit.
According to Nokia VP for Corporate Relations and Responsibility, Middle East and Africa, Jussi Hinkkanen, the innovation event is supposed to result in at least ten viable projects unlike previous summits.
Hinkkanen added that the summit is focused on driving forward the development of the African eco-system, fostering close partnerships between developers and Nokia, and accelerating African leadership capabilities to drive growth of the ICT industry in the region.
“Nokia is establishing a network of Mobile Application Labs and developer programs in Africa. We already have three in South Africa, Kenya and Egypt – and we plan to have several more,” he said.
The OAIS is set to empower youth to drive African innovation.
Building locally relevant content is key, but so is helping African entrepreneurs to become successful commercially and to get their innovations to the local, regional and global markets, he went on.
While praising the Kenya mobile app space, Hinkkanen said that empowerment is not only in knowledge but financially too.
”There is a very strong community element here, and the mindset is very flexible and innovative. We’re seeing some really interesting and unique apps that you don’t see anywhere else in the world – but a lot of those are given away for free due to monetization challenges, and what we need to develop are sustainable businesses that are able to grow and prosper,” he said.
Nokia, Cap Gemini and World Bank’s technology innovation program, infoDev, are hosting the OIAS summit.
