African Youth Take Center Stage at AU Conference

The fifth edition of the Yale Model African Union (YMAU) concluded successfully in Accra, bringing together over 300 delegates, policymakers, industry leaders, and entrepreneurs from across Africa and the diaspora for three days of dialogue, innovation, and collaboration.

Held from March 13–15, 2026, under the theme, “Imagine, Challenge & Build the Africa We Want,” the milestone conference marked five years of fostering youth leadership and policy engagement across the continent.

Among the distinguished speakers was Dennis Sampong, Country Director of Fludor Ghana, a subsidiary of TGI Group. Drawing on his extensive experience in Ghana’s agricultural sector, Mr. Sampong shared insights on the urgent need to integrate youth into the cocoa value chain and the importance of private sector participation in shaping policy outcomes.

Speaking to a room of young leaders and aspiring policymakers, Mr. Sampong emphasised the demographic imperative driving Africa’s development agenda.

“The future of Africa is the youth. If you look at Ghana, more than 60% of the population are under the age of 35. Anything we’re doing now is going to be the youth’s future,” he said. “Nobody can do better for Africa except ourselves.”

He also highlighted the challenges facing Ghana’s cocoa sector, noting that the average farmer is between 55 and 60 years old, and stressed the need to attract young people into agriculture through modern technologies.

“If our farmers used to use cutlasses and holes to do cocoa, what other technologies can we bring in? As part of our training programs, we encourage young people to go into cocoa and use modern ways of going about their farming activities.”