The A.Y.E is a global non-profit organisation with over 12.6 million members across 20 countries including the United States and Great Britain dedicated to supporting the growth of entrepreneurs in the African continent.
As part of efforts to reduce unemployment and dependence on non-existent public and private sector jobs, the Africa’s Young Entrepreneurs (A.Y.E) has unveiled a platform to promote entrepreneurship among youths in the country.
The A.Y.E is a global non-profit organisation with over 12.6 million members across 20 countries including the United States and Great Britain dedicated to supporting the growth of entrepreneurs in the African continent.
The initiative tagged: ‘AYEEN 1017,’ an initiative of A.Y.E, focused on promoting and sustaining entrepreneurship that would generate employment through effective wealth creation strategies and resources. President of A.Y.E, Summy Francis said for Nigeria and Africa to develop and have global economic relevance, they must invest in young entrepreneurs while the government, corporate bodies, institutions and individuals must identify that the youths are an embodiment of strength and talent.
He added investing in young entrepreneurs would secure the future of our nation and continent and eventually eradicate poverty, create jobs and expand economic development. “We encourage corporate sponsors to support the creation of future African entrepreneurs. It is very worrisome that most corporate organisations and companies in Nigeria are more interested in the sponsorship of non-intellectual, short-term and non-defining projects and television shows.
“If we are serious about securing the future, I urge corporate organisations to leverage on our large network and support Africa’s Young Entrepreneurs to create clusters of economic growth in Nigeria and Africa,” he said. Francis added: “We support entrepreneurs by helping them with grants, specialised skills training, mentorship and training. This has helped many of them to break free from the initial teething problems of startups and gave them the confidence to take that leap to business success. We have millions of young entrepreneurs registered in our network from various regions in Nigeria and across several countries in Africa as we currently pride ourselves as the largest entrepreneurship network in the continent.”
Similarly, the Vice President of A.Y.E., Ibada Ahmed noted, “With our network of more than 12 million members and our presence in 19 countries, we offer a platform for the average entrepreneur to succeed. 700 million of Africa’s population are youth and that means 700 million brainpower and 700 million manpower. Our potential is unrivaled. We are the only organisation that allows African entrepreneurs to connect with each other financially and socially regardless of our borders. We cannot influence immigration policies of independent states but we can influence economic policies through direction and growth.”“We must continue to work together in ensuring every household in Africa is financially stable, community by community, region by region and country by country.”