The China-Africa Youth Forum on Innovation & Entrepreneurship 2025 was held in Changsha on July 18. Leading members of youth organizations and key figures in youth programs from 16 African countries, including Cameroon, South Africa, and Nigeria, engaged in exchanges and seminars on the theme of "Chinese and African Youth Joining Hands to Advance Modernization." More than 90 Chinese and foreign youth delegates participated in the forum.

Li Zhichao, honorary chairperson of the Hunan Youth Federation, remarked in his speech that the Chinese government has attached great importance to youth innovation and entrepreneurship. The All-China Youth Federation has also been actively implementing the Chinese youth entrepreneurship campaign. Li expressed his expectation that both Chinese and African young people will strengthen exchanges and mutual understanding, build consensus for development, and deepen pragmatic cooperation in the fields of innovation and entrepreneurship.

Younes Siraj, first general secretary of the Moroccan Socialist Youth Organization, expressed his appreciation for the help that China has given to African young people in education, poverty reduction, and employment. Siraj looks forward to the launch of more practical initiatives to promote fruitful results in Africa-China cooperation.

Data from the International Finance Corporation shows that more than 230 million jobs in sub-Saharan Africa will require digital skills by 2030, generating 130 billion USD in talent training and workforce development opportunities.

"China continues to take the lead in digital infrastructure, and we need to learn from their experience and train local young people to lead in digital infrastructure development," said Joshua Opey, founding executive director of the ABAN Center for Global Policy. He indicated that to unleash this potential, it is important to build practical pathways that connect digital universal skills with economic empowerment, to increase investment in digital infrastructure, to cultivate the capacity of African youth to build and operate such infrastructure, and to bridge the digital connectivity divide.

The China-Africa Youth Forum on Innovation & Entrepreneurship was organized by the All-China Youth Federation, and was undertaken by the China International Youth Exchange Center, the Hunan Youth Federation, and the Sinohydro Engineering Bureau 8 Co., Ltd. During the event, the organizer also held a ceremony to inaugurate the China-Africa Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Research Center at Hunan University and issued the "Chinese and African Youth Joining Hands to Advance Modernization (Changsha Initiative)."

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Yu Jiangjiang

Chinese source: Chinanews