The Minister for Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif has disclosed his intention to organise a summit for the youth across the country.

Speaking during the opening ceremony of the Youth Connekt African 2021 at the Accra International Conference Centre on Wednesday, October 20, 2021, the Minister said, “I intend to establish Regional Annual Youth Summit across the sixteen (16) regions of Ghana, where the youth will converge and be connected to business leaders, youth entrepreneurs and other celebrities to share ideas, knowledge and mentorship.”

He stated that the goal is to increase the youth's capacities and aspirations so that they can contribute to the development of a more stable, democratic, and prosperous nation.

“It is my fervent hope that this summit will offer the nation the unique opportunity to enhance the development and empowerment of the youth.  It will also offer the nation the prospects of leveraging the event for national unity and cohesion, gender mainstreaming and the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” he added.

He also urged the youth to take advantage of available technology by leveraging its benefits to enable them build their capacities for the development of themselves, their country and the continent at large.

To this, he said, “technology has made it possible to sit in Ghana and transact business in Rwanda, Kenya, South Africa or anywhere across the globe. This I believe should be a motivating factor to encourage the youth to explore the various benefits of technology and AfCFTA through platforms such as this to facilitate development in our various countries and Africa at large.”

Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Patrice Motsepe, President of CAF, Assistant Administrator and Regional Director for Africa, Ms. Ahunna Eziakonwa, Secretary-General of the AfCFTA, Wamkele Mane, UN Resident Coordinator to Ghana, Mr. Charles Abani, and others took turns to address the youth.

This year's summit is the first since the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as the first to be held outside of Rwanda.

It had over 3000 participants for the opening day, with over 1000 others joining across the continent online.