The 2019 African Economic Conference (AEC), the leading platform for networking, dialogue and knowledge-sharing on pertinent issues facing Africa, will take place 2-4 December 2019 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

The conference is jointly organized by the African Development Bank, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the United Nations Development Programme, on the theme “Jobs, Entrepreneurship and Capacity Development for African Youths,” The topic aligns with the sustainable development goals on ‘inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all’.

This year’s AEC, the 14th, will bring together more than 500 African stakeholders, youth representatives, business leaders, policy makers and media representatives from Africa and around the world.

It will provide an important platform for researchers to debate issues relating to youth employment, skills and entrepreneurship capacities, and evaluate the current reforms and initiatives to address the problem. Participants will discuss policy options for optimizing the benefits of Africa’s youth bulge and also tackle the youth skills mismatch in the labour market.

Through knowledge sharing and case studies on good practices, presenters will propose strategies and actionable recommendations to speed up the implementation of key development policies such as the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the SDGs.

The theme for this year aligns also with the development agenda of the AEC partners, particularly the African Development Bank, which, between 2016 and 2018, created 3.6 million direct jobs from investments of $10 billion in 102 projects across 32 countries.

In addition, the Bank’s Board of Directors recently approved projects worth $9.15 billion for some 318 projects across 48 African countries from which 4.2 million direct jobs are expected.

Tapera Jeffrey Muzira, Coordinator for the Bank’s ‘Job for Youth in Africa’ remarked: “The Bank is changing its plans, projects, staff and systems to maximize the youth employment outcome, mobilize financial resources to motivate private sector actors to scale up proven solutions on youth employment.”

Last year’s conference, held in Kigali, Rwanda, underscored economic integration as a game-changer for inclusive growth and prosperity in Africa. Participants recognized the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfTCA) as a bold strategy for correcting the imbalance of powers during negotiations between regional trading blocs.