AFRICA MUST BRIDGE GAP BETWEEN VISION AND REALITY

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BY King’s Office Correspondents

NEW YORK, USA – His Majesty King Mswati III has called upon African countries to bridge the gap between their vision and the current reality on the ground.

His Majesty was speaking through Finance Minister Neal Rijkenburg here during the global launch of the Africa Strategic Investment Alliance (ASIA), led by AeTrade Group, under the theme: “Uniting People, Capital and Prosperity”.

The aim of the launch is to align public policy and private capital to promote inclusive growth, particularly for women and youth.

His Majesty the King is the inaugural Chairperson of the Presidential Advisory Council for the AeTrade Group, a Pan-African Diaspora-led continental organisation with a mission to eradicate extreme poverty in Africa over the next decade.

“As we all know, we have a huge ambition which is not aligned with our reality as a continent. We must bridge this gap between our vision and the reality on the ground.

That is why the theme is apt – Uniting People, Capital and Prosperity: Public–Private and Philanthropy Partnerships for Africa’s financial inclusion agenda: Strategic Investment Alliance (ASIA) to address critical development challenges through pragmatic and tested solutions,” His Majesty stated.

He said Africa is the youngest continent by age, yet the oldest as the birthplace of all humanity. The King noted that by 2030, the number of young people in the African labour force will increase to 375 million.

“According to the International Monetary Fund, by 2035, more than 20 million young Africans will enter the workforce each year, which is more than the rest of the world combined.

There is a significant gap between the number of young people seeking work and the limited opportunities available to them. Moreover, there is a mismatch between the skills of young people entering the workforce and the needs of employers,” the King said.

The King, through the minister, expressed hope that the deliberations would provide technical and financial support to enable the continent to realise its ambition to mobilise resources and create between 80-125 million jobs over the next 15 years.

“We have mobilised African citizens and held three successful Africa Job Creation events since 2023. I wish to commend the AeTrade Group, the African Union Commission and the Government of Ethiopia for co-organising these events and to welcome the outcome statement in the Adwa Declaration. I am told the latter was a resounding success and deserves to be elevated to a Summit,” he said.

His Majesty announced that the Kingdom of Eswatini has invested US$5 million (approximately E100 million) as catalytic funding to enable the ASIA structure to support small businesses, youth and women.

The King further pledged to engage all African traditional leaders and African Union Heads of State and Governments to do the same.

“Our vision and mission is to harness digital technologies to create these jobs through a robust ecosystem to support Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises to become the engine of economic growth and the major drivers of the African Continental Free Trade Area.

Minister of Finance, Hon. Neal Rijkenberg

“During the inaugural Presidential Advisory Council of the AeTrade Group, chaired by the Kingdom of Eswatini in Niamey, Niger in 2022, the AfCFTA Secretariat, ably led by Secretary General Wamkele Mene, signed an MOU with the AeTrade Group to ensure that the single integrated market becomes a reality.

“I am pleased to see their strategic partnership evolving to this level where we now engage the global community to join hands with us to ensure that Africa advances digital and financial inclusion, powered by digital platforms created by various partners, including Mastercard, Microsoft and others.

We embrace our global partners to join us to ensure we win the fight against poverty using the resources within our collective reach,” he said.

His Majesty said ASIA was established to make a difference in the financial landscape by creating a special-purpose vehicle to ring-fence financing to address the substantial SME financing gap of US$330 billion per year across the African continent.

“We acknowledge that domestic sources of finance are available in fragmented funds across the continent, and our major task is to pool these resources and channel them more efficiently using available digital platforms such as Sokokuu.Africa.

This source of funding may not be adequate, which is why we are turning to our partners beyond the continent,” he said.

Attending the launch were the Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, Amina Mohammed, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, represented by Chief Fortune Charumbita,

the President of the Pan-African Parliament, the Secretary General of the AfCFTA, Wamkele Mene, the Regional Director of the UNDP Bureau for Africa, Ms Ahunna Eziakonwa, CEO of AeTrade Group, Mulualem Syoum, commissioners, ministers, ambassadors and leaders of private sector and philanthropic organisations.

AeTrade Group CEO Mulualem Syoum framed the alliance as an open platform for governments, investors and civil society to accelerate job creation and economic transformation across Africa.

“AeTrade is open to all those interested in inclusive growth,” Syoum stated, calling for immediate action to convert commitments into measurable employment outcomes.

The AU Commission Chairperson, through Commissioner Moses Vilakati, conveyed that this platform requires immediate action, uniting the strengths of all into a single voice, lowering financing costs and addressing energy challenges to transform communities.

“Africa is intended to lead the agenda, with the world following suit. SMEs continue to be essential contributors in this context,” he said.

The UNDP Bureau for Africa’s Ms Ahunna Eziakonwa also addressed the gathering, praising the effort to unite African stakeholders around shared prosperity.

The UNDP highlighted the resilience of African women and youth, particularly within the informal economy, and called for policies that protect earnings while creating pathways to formal employment.

Panellists emphasised targeted interventions such as vocational training, digital inclusion and small and medium enterprise (SME) financing to ensure that growth is broad-based and inclusive, including the creation of markets.

Panellists reiterated that today’s action can transform the future of young graduates. They urged participating countries and partners to prioritise scalable projects that generate sustained employment, formalise informal work and strengthen skills development.

The discussions produced a set of prioritised actions, including accelerating public-private partnerships, scaling youth entrepreneurship programmes, skills training, expanding women-led business financing and building regional investment pipelines that reduce barriers to cross-border trade and labour mobility.

Long-term sustainability and ensuring that the underserved are not left behind were also highlighted. The need for capital was emphasised above skills training so that the skills attained are put to use.

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