The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Accenture announced the launch of YAS! Youth for Africa and Sustainable Development Goals (YAS!), a digital pan-African entrepreneurship portal-platform in Lagos. Platform addresses four main pillars of the entrepreneurship ecosystem: Information, Mentorship,Funding and Network.
The initiative is developed by UNDP’s Regional Service Centre for Africa (RSCA) and powered by Accenture with the sole purpose of connecting entrepreneurs to the resources they need to develop and grow their ideas or businesses. The digital platform is designed in an interactive manner such that users can leverage on the features such as learning, an ecosystem map, and information around opportunities for funding youth development.
According to UNDP’s Regional Director, Lamin Momodou Manneh, “Africa’s entrepreneurial space is advancing rapidly - however, success stories are often isolated and commonly found only on the national or regional level. In North and West Africa, Nigeria and Egypt are taking a lead role while other localities remain marginalized. YAS! will help to scale these efforts across the region – and the entire continent – to improve on the individual achievements and make them collective.”
A two-day programme is scheduled for the 10th and 11th of December, 2018 for the activation of platform in Lagos. It will also feature workshops, discussions on entrepreneurial topics by entrepreneurs, mentors, donors, investors and corporates with opportunities for networking.
Entrepreneurs will get to learn about emerging technologies such as blockchain, big data & analytics, virtual reality, internet of things, artificial intelligence and industry X.0.
They will also attempt to incorporate these emerging technologies into their solutions.
“Youth entrepreneurship is very important to the growth of the African economies. The more youth are empowered to create sustainable businesses, the more jobs are created. The YAS! Platform is committed to empowering youth with skills, funding and mentorship support to help them grow and scale.” Rory Moore, Liquid Studio Director and Innovation Lead, Accenture Africa.