Youth, not oil is Africa’s greatest asset, says Peter Obi

Mr Peter Obi.

By Mustapha Sumaila

The Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) Vice Presidential candidate in the 2019  presidential poll, Peter Obi says that African’s greatest assets are not oil but its youth dominated the population.

Obi said this during a panel discussion at the ongoing African Economic Congress (AEC) in Abuja on Tuesday.

The theme of the maiden congress is “Building the Africa We Want’’.
He said that African countries must invest in their youth to ensure accelerated development of the continent.

According to him, the greatest asset the continent is blessed with is not oil but the high number of young persons.

He said young people must be empowered and made productive; otherwise, the consequences of idle and unproductive youth would consume everybody.

Obi who is also the former governor of Anambra said energy should not be channelled on oil anymore but towards developing the youth.
He added that  Africa as a continent would  not witness meaningful change if it failed to develop its youth.

He advised that African countries must also invest more in Information Communication Technology (ICT) and science-related areas in order to achieve desirous change.

“We must also invest more in our Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to guarantee economic development.

“All the countries which economies are doing well in the world invest heavily in their MSMEs. For instance, 90 per cent of companies in China is MSMEs,’’ he said. (NAN)