At a seminar in Nigeria, AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina suggested moving away from empowerment programs that 'give handouts' to young people and towards investment banks .

“We need to move away from so-called youth empowerment programs,” the AfDB President hinted. He continues: “Young people don't need alms. They need investment”. Despite significant progress in youth empowerment programs in skills acquisition, education, project support and digital technology, several difficulties remain, including the quality of empowerment systems and their implementation. slow in youth. Other pitfalls result from insufficient data on the labor market and employability, inadequate funding, weak governance systems. The President of the African Development Bank expressed his support for the effective establishment of investment banks in African countries.