The National Youth Authority (NYA) CEO, Osman Abdulai Ayariga, has warned that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) could fall short of its promise if it is implemented as a goods-only agreement that ignores the mobility and protection of Africa’s youthful talent.
Delivering a keynote address at the Africa Prosperity Dialogues on the theme, “Africa Without Borders: Youth, Creativity, and Power in an Integrated Africa,” Mr. Ayariga stressed that Africa’s integration agenda must prioritise young people, creativity, and services.
While AfCFTA has created a single market of over 1.4 billion people with a combined economic output exceeding US$3 trillion, Mr. Ayariga said markets are ultimately built by people, not goods alone.
“If AfCFTA is implemented as a goods-only agreement, it will structurally fail Africa’s youth,” he warned.
He noted that the fastest-growing segments of the global economy—services, digital production, and the creative industries—are driven by skills, mobility, and innovation. Yet, Africa currently captures less than one per cent of the global creative economy, a gap he attributed to policy failures rather than a lack of talent.
Citing Nigeria’s film industry as an example, Mr. Ayariga said global streaming platforms invested about US$40 million into Nollywood between 2016 and 2022, helping African stories reach international audiences. He emphasised that culture has evolved beyond soft power to become a tool of economic and diplomatic influence.
He urged African governments to invest deliberately in cultural diplomacy or risk being defined by others. The NYA CEO also called for urgent political action, including mutual recognition of skills across borders, labour-sensitive mobility frameworks, and a managed free-movement regime that allows Africans to live, work, and create across the continent with dignity.
“Africa’s youth are already borderless in imagination and ambition. Policy is lagging behind reality,” he concluded.
READ ALSO:
