Earlier this month the World Economic Forum announced the creation of the Global Shapers community, an initiative designed to provide young leaders with an international platform to engage and help shape the future. It is envisaged that the community will work in collaboration with the Forum of Young Global Leaders. It will operate out of more than 75 local city hubs – from New York to Mexico City, London to Amman, Johannesburg to New Delhi.
Recent events across the globe – from the “Arab Spring” uprisings in North Africa to the recent riots in London, UK – have highlighted the need to empower, involve and engage with the youth; specifically as the established economic and political order around the world takes stoke in the wake of the global financial crisis.
“It is significant that the millennial generation consider themselves as active agents of change rather than passive bystanders,” David Aikman, Head of the Global Shapers community, in a recent interview. “In a recent Euro RSCG study, 92% agree that the world must change; 84% consider it their duty to drive this change; and almost 82% believe they have the power to make it happen. In large part, this generation is increasingly self-empowered and given access to information and technology, which has catalysed tremendous opportunities for interaction and collaboration.”
Brand Africa FORUM 2011 – Youth Focus
When delegates gather on 29th September 2011 at the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, for the Brand Africa FORUM 2011 the issue of youth involvement in Africa’s growth and development will come in for intense discussion. Four young visionaries will be sharing the stage with Alex Okosi, Senior Vice President and Managing Director of MTV Networks Africa (pictured above), during the Youth Panel discussion. Who are they?
The panel includes two dynamic youngsters who were selected to the 100 Brightest Young Minds South Africa initiative, Kenyan Gertrude Kitongo and Ralph Baumgarten from South Africa, as well as two of South Africa’s One Young World 2011 representatives: Zamantungwa Khumalo, a BA student with a triple major in International Relations, Political Studies and Law who also runs a fashion business, and Erik de Ridder, a civil engineering student at UCT. Listen … and learn.
Cyber-Crime Holds Africa Back
Speaking at the launch, in Johannesburg, of global security company AVG’s new 2012 anti-virus product the impact of cyber-crime on online activity in Africa came under the spotlight. In an interview with ITNewsAfrica, Peter Baxter, AVG’s Vice President for International Sales, said Africa was not alone in dealing with cyber criminals. “We’ve seen the digital world change so dramatically over the years. It’s a very attractive business for cyber criminals at the moment,” he said.
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Private Equity Heads South
Quoting consultancy Ernst & Young, Business Day reports that a surge in private equity exit activity in Europe and North America looks likely to benefit Africa as global investors look to the continent and its growth sectors. Ernst & Young’s global private equity leader, Jeffrey Bunder, told the newspaper that this activity showed investors had more cash to invest elsewhere after profiting from their previous deals.
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