If African youths are to succeed, they must remain focused and stop over-reliance on their governments to pursue their dreams, South African billionaire, founder and chairman African Rainbow Minerals, Patrice Motsepe said.

Addressing more than 2000 youths, civil society, and government representatives on the third and last day of the YouthConnekt Africa Summit, last Friday, Motsepe said that with hard work, sacrifice and perseverance, every young person is capable of achieving anything or can be what they want.

"Never wait for the government to do something for you. Its job is to create an enabling environment. Youth don’t have to give up, you have to keep going. When you see your business is outdated, innovate,” he said.

He advised the youth not to pay attention to naysayers and instead focus more on putting their ideas to work. "You will want to start a business and you will find people who will tell you that it will not succeed because there is so much competition, more money, more infrastructure, and more resources. Let that not derail you,” he said.

He pointed out that there were many young and successful Africans who today are recognised and respected in America, Europe and the rest of the world, because they had succeeded and exceptionally to become the best in a foreign country.

"The most important thing is to move from thinking, planning, preparing to implementing and don’t get discouraged if you fail. I have had too many failures in my life, I have made many mistakes and I always concentrate more on not repeating the same mistake. Mistakes will be made but you must move forward,” he said.

Earlier, Aliaume Damala Badara Akon Thiam, Senegalese-American singer, and founder of Akon Lighting Africa had urged African youth to seize opportunities to innovate and turn their challenges into profitable ventures.

"Young people have to be the driving force and take charge to build the future that Africans want. Work collectively and promote entrepreneurship, job creation for the better future of Africa,” he added.

Nigeria’s economist and entrepreneur Tony Elumelu pointed out that if promoted, entrepreneurship and innovation among the youth can be an engine of social and economic transformation of Africa.

"I encourage young people in Africa to work hard and turn their entrepreneurial dreams into working businesses. African economies should create a conducive environment, and fix challenges like lack of access to finance, market and electricity, in order to enable the youth to exploit their talents,” he said.

The three-day YouthConnekt Africa Summit was organised by the government of Rwanda, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and UNDP. The summit’s theme was "Realising Africa’s Youth Potential.”

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