This post is by UBC MasterCard Foundation Graduate Scholar, Isaac Jonas. Read Isaac’s bio and the bios of all the UBC MasterCard Foundation Scholars online.
As I disembarked from the airplane at Abidjan Felix Houphouet Boigny airport in Côte d’Ivoire I quickly realized that it was going to be a busy week ahead by the huge volume of human traffic entering the capital city. Major decisions, especially concerning African development were being discussed in Abidjan on the sidelines of the African Development Bank (AFDB) Bi-Annual meetings and the World Bank Group-International Monetary Fund (WBG-IMF) Youth Forum, the one I was going to attend.
On the first day of the Forum, I had the privilege to share the panel with Lucy Fye (Global Practice Trade and Competitiveness Senior Private Sector Development Specialist: World Bank Group). During my presentation, I did emphasize that if Africa is to effectively develop its entrepreneurship infrastructure, she should equally consider measuring the impact of the previous projects that have been sponsored by multilateral partners like AFDB and WBG itself. Often times, there could be important lessons to learn. It’s a good starting point to support the right projects going forward
During the sidelines of the presentations on the first day and throughout the forum, I had an opportunity to interact and exchange ideas with key decision- makers from the World Bank, IMF, International Labor Organization and other top global firms like Deloitte and Touche and Boston Consulting Group.
I was especially captivated when I had a one on one discussion with the International Financing Corporation Vice President Global Client services, Jean Philippe Prosper. The message is clear that young people should be included in the Sustainable Development Goals. But on their part, they need to have the tools and skills to implement their development projects. I am fortunate enough to be an MFRE student and MasterCard Foundation Scholar at University of British Columbia. I have been fortunate enough to interact with diverse audiences globally and even though life is a daily education process, I am grateful for these opportunities. These opportunities would meaningfully mean so much to me when I would be able to leverage on these valuable networks to effect and accelerate positive impact to the lives of other young people across the globe especially from disadvantaged communities. I am already leveraging on this network to foster opportunities for our Not-for Profit Organization we currently working on.
In conclusion, I had an opportunity to attend the AFDB Bi-Annual meeting at Sofitel Hotel where key decisions are being made on Africa. I got a rude awakening when I met one of the youth from Côte d’Ivoire who was not able to continue with his master’s studies post-election conflict in 2010. It was a sad reminder that a lot needs to be done in Africa about development. So thank you for this life changing opportunity.
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