The Shining Hope for Communities CEO and founder Kennedy Odede has called on African governments to support innovative ideas from young people if they have to end the problem of unemployment.
Odede, who received the prestigious TIME100 Impact Awards, asked why African youth have to look for resources to support investment opportunities elsewhere yet the continent is full of dollar millionaires.
“We know the solution: strong leadership and a government where the leaders are selfless,” he said during a conversation by the eminent panel titled 'Pathways to Urban Prosperity' during the awards gala in Kigali, Rwanda, on Friday.
Besides former President Johnson Sirleaf, the panel equally consisted of UN Women Goodwill Ambassador Danai Gurira, social justice humanitarian Ashley Judd, United Nations’ IFAD advocate for Rural Youth Sherrie Silver and African Leadership Group founder Fred Swaniker, who were also feted.
The Shofco chief executive challenged governments to look into the numerous taxes that have been imposed on young people which deprive them of opportunities to fully harness their creativity.
Odede cited the recently-imposed five per cent tax on online content creators, as well as the digital services tax, as examples of things that limit African creatives who have embraced technology to create employment for themselves and their peers.
“I am really angry that we still talk about these issues because we know the solutions. It is leadership, we need leaders that are in touch with our issues. Look at Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda, you will see these innovative ideas. Why can’t we harness this?” he said.
“To fight poverty, the biggest thing to do is to understand social context. Listen and find out what are the people’s challenges.”
The Shofco boss, however, remains optimistic about Africa because of its youth. He believes their education, high skills and innovations will serve the continent well, having experienced it himself with Shofco.
“I have proof that if you work with young people and impact them, if we listen, if we bring out their talent, then we cannot only survive but thrive in this urban spring. I need more people to join me and work with the over 2.5 million people who are part of Shofco urban network.”
Shofco, which was founded in 2004, runs the largest grassroots movement in Kenya, Shofco Urban Network, with a membership of more than three million, mainly in informal settlements and semi-rural areas.
Apart from SUN, the organisation runs six other programmes which include education, healthcare, gender-based violence response and prevention, WASH, sustainable livelihood programme and women empowerment.
The Shofco boss was last year introduced by former US President Bill Clinton as a family friend during the Clinton Global Initiative forum held in New York.
Clinton also lauded Odede, saying his initiatives have made a difference in society.
“Pleasure to introduce someone who to me truly embodies the best of CGI. His (Odede’s) work has improved lives in the most impoverished communities on earth. A long-time friend of our family,” the former President said before ushering him to the podium to speak.
He was appointed to the United States Agency for International Development Advisory Committee by Samantha Power last year.
In 2018 Shofco became the first grassroots organisation to win the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize.
At $2.5 million (Sh300million), the prize is the world’s largest annual humanitarian award presented to nonprofit organisations judged to have made extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering.