Senator Umar Urges Youths To Lead Africa’s Trade, Innovation

Senator Sadiq Suleiman Umar, Chairman of the Nigerian Senate Committees connected Trade and Investment, and Rules and Business, has called connected African younker to instrumentality the pb successful unlocking the continent’s economical imaginable done leadership, trade, and strategical collaboration nether the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Speaking astatine the 2025 Africa and the Middle East Senate Association (AMESA) Summit, hosted by the Junior Chamber International (JCI) Senate Association yesterday successful Abuja, Senator Umar underscored the value of younker enactment successful actualizing the promises of AfCFTA and shaping a aboriginal of shared prosperity crossed Africa and the Middle East.

The legislator began by praising JCI for implicit a period of nurturing young leaders and promoting entrepreneurship crossed much than 140 countries.

“The JCI Senate Association has go a captious pillar successful sustaining this vision—offering mentorship, service, and strategical absorption to guarantee tomorrow’s leaders are equipped to service humanity with integrity and innovation,” helium said.

He lauded JCI’s alignment with the acme theme, which focused connected AfCFTA, emerging concern opportunities, and younker enactment successful driving sustainable development.

With implicit 60% of Africa’s 1.4 cardinal colonisation nether the property of 25, Senator Umar described the continent arsenic not lone the youngest successful the satellite but besides location to the fastest-growing labour force.

“By 2035, Africa volition lend much radical to the planetary workforce annually than the remainder of the satellite combined,” helium said.

Despite this advantage, intra-African commercialized accounts for conscionable 15% of full trade, compared to 68% successful Europe and 59% successful Asia.

Senator Umar cited World Bank projections, which estimation that the AfCFTA could assistance 30 cardinal Africans retired of utmost poorness and summation Africa’s income by $450 cardinal by 2035.