China-Africa Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum: Creating a Better Future

On the morning of September 26, 2021 China-Africa Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum, one of the important economic and trade negotiation activities of the second China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo, was successfully held in Xiangjiang Fund Town, Xiangjiang New Area, Hunan Province.

At the forum, young entrepreneurs and students from China, Kenya, Benin, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Gambia and more than a dozen African countries and regions jointly launched initiatives on innovation and entrepreneurship through online and offline interaction, and discussed cooperation and development for a better future.

Zheng Jianxin, mayor of Changsha, capital of Hunan province, expressed the hope that the China-Africa Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum will build a bridge of communication and a bond of cooperation, lead young Chinese and African friends to participate in the wave of innovation and entrepreneurship, and promote the in-depth development of China-Africa economic and trade cooperation.

“I am from Cameroon and have been living in China for five years,” said Mr. Joseph Mend, co-founder of the China-Africa Youth Federation and head of the African youth delegation in China. After finishing my studies, I will go back to China to develop my country and promote the friendly relations between China and Africa.

Yang Tao, founder of Kilimall, a leading e-commerce platform in Africa, hopes to better match supply and demand and expand the market through the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo. He said that China will increase investment in the digital economy and e-commerce platforms in Africa and create more jobs in Africa to create a better future for Both sides. By vigorously building local warehouses, Kilimall can achieve “next-day delivery” for 50% of packages in Africa, which is close to the domestic speed.

At the forum, five entrepreneurial projects, including WapiPay, a cross-border payment platform for China-Africa trade and economic cooperation, AHDAI, a wireless broadband with ultra-high cost performance for the Last Mile, Guoray Technology, a healthy snack brand using African green fruits, MOOVED, a home appliance brand, and PAYGO Beebee jump, an off-grid solar finance lease, made wonderful shows. The five projects provide targeted solutions to China-Africa trade, the urgent needs of local people and the upgrading of domestic consumption. The main founders of the projects all stick to the front line of the African market, and all have achieved rapid and adverse growth during COVID-19 Pandemic.

A signing ceremony of China-Africa cooperation projects was held at the forum. There are some trade cooperation, such as Hunan Delore group purchasing Morocco rosemary geranyl materials, Shanghai Greechain information technology, Kenya domestic avocado exclusive sales agent,  Kenya AHDAI project, and Hunan Uganda optimal home building project contract. The cooperation, involving trade with Africa, procurement of raw materials, exclusive sales and financing services, will deepen China-Africa economic and trade cooperation.

Qiu Yusheng, Managing Director of the Investment Department of Transsion Holdings, believes that despite the impact of the epidemic, some African countries have maintained rapid economic growth, ranking among the highest in the world. The COVID-19 Pandemic has made a large number of African buyers who used to come to China to buy goods unable to continue to do so, and offline sales channels have been greatly affected. Transsion supports the China-Africa incubation platform Future Hub to provides incubation service to external partners.

Hunan Delore Group, which is engaged in research and development, production and sales of plant extracts and solid drinks, plans to invest 7 million dollars in Morocco to purchase rosemary leaves. Jiang Yixuan, chairman of Hunan Delore Group, said that he would actively respond to the call of The Times and contribute youth strength to the lasting friendship between China and Africa.

The Forum issued an Initiative on China-Africa Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The Initiative narratives that China and Africa are a community with a shared future, and deepening and advancing China-Africa friendship and cooperation will help improve the well-being of the Chinese and African peoples. Youth is the future of the development of china-Africa relations, and People should use opportunity to build consensus, mutual care, hand in hand side by side, seize this historic opportunity, hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder to innovative business solutions to both sides of the people’s livelihood and economic problems and challenges, benefit the Chinese and African peoples, creating a beautiful future, china-Africa youth lead china-Africa relations to a new future.

The co-organizer of this forum, Future Hub, is an early stage investment fund and incubator from China. by. Together with Transsion Holdings, first-line overseas investment institutions and local partners in Africa, Future Hub support startups in Africa with knowledge, capital, network and resources from China. Future Hub focuses on disruptive tech-enabled business models including FinTech, social network, content platform, entertainment, mobility, e-commerce, HealthTech, EdTech among many other sectors.