Young African Thinkers Convention Ethiopia 2018
The young African thinkers is an annual three-day brainstorming and idea-generating summit where Africans from different summits gather to give input, with the aim of making youth participation in decision-making and solution-making for Africa's way forward, from the 15TH-18TH of August 2018.
This year's theme was "UNDERSTANDING ND OWNING AFRICA'S CULTURAL IDENTITY"
our brainstorming sessions were divided into three phases each team working on one each,
Resources
Identity
Culture
During the plenary sessions, I realized how much responsibility was placed on me, to creatively think about Africa's development, the enthusiasm I immediately assumed was overwhelming.
A community of youths with a critical thinking mindset, the concept of vision, awareness of opportunities, and shared values.
The most impressive lecture I got was “HAVING A DIGITAL MENTAL SHIFT” as an African.
Our panelists for the convention were Gerald Chindra, founder of Future Africa Forum; Richard Njau from Kenya, a former gospel rapper, and current Digital Content Marketer that has found his way into working with Google Plus and Youtube; and Kenyan Photographer Mutua Matheka (TruthSlinger) who is currently working on his project “ Unscrambling Africa.”
When talking about effective messaging, what was said was mainly of the obvious but often shrugged away the concept of the power of social media that can be utilized, believe it or not, for more than memes and porn. Social media was once just fun and games. Now it’s a business and like a business, it wants to be handled severely.
On the evening of the second day of the conference, Richard called for a small gathering of people in the conference room of the hotel they were staying at to share some of the social media trade tricks he’s learned on his journey. A lot of people showed up and this tells me there’s a high demand for this knowledge.
I just recently realized that social media strategist is actually a job, thus content creation matters. content is KING
What did I learn?
Don't wait till you know yourself to start, the most frustrating things are those you're meant to do, your pain is your Why
Having a digital mental shift, from an idea to virtual reality involves the power of social media, and most importantly knowing your vision and target audience.
Don't be an online influencer because it's based on likes and followers, be an AUTHORITY!
I returned home realizing Kenya was far more advanced in the technological world. Where was Cameroon on the map? Is Cameroon going backward or forward? If you scan through the internet where the opportunities lie, you will realize that very few international organizations have chosen Cameroon as a host country for any youth-building initiatives as compared to Kenya. Is it bad diplomacy? How often do others also come to Cameroon for international training, conference, and exchange? The one great person they know in Cameroon is Eto’o Fils (Cameroonian Footballer), lol.
Well, Rome was not built in one day. It is important to realize that youth is a critical agent in nation-building. We must embrace the responsibility, get equipped with the right skills, and get a proper education.
“When opportunity meets preparation success is inevitable”
Until next time, with love
Afungfege Evita
Founder