Humanitarian minister parleys countries to tackle illegal migration

The Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu, has said the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Tinubu was giving young Nigerians productive opportunities with pioneering innovative ideas through different startup initiatives.

Edu, who was joined by the European Union and representatives of 48 other countries in Hague, the Netherlands capital, made this known during her opening remarks in an event to discuss disturbing migration issues involving young people in Africa and the world.

This was contained in a statement by her Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Rasheed Olanrewaju.

Dr Edu noted that exploring the connection between migration, youth, and development was important as the youths between aged 15 and 25 years, who make up 16 per cent of the world’s population, are a growing mobile demographic that could play a significant role in fostering positive development.

She further disclosed that “In Nigeria, like in other parts of Africa, the youth have developed a robust startup ecosystem, attracting over 2 billion USD in investment between 2015 and 2022.

“In 2022 alone, 107 startups in Nigeria, founded by persons between the ages of 25 and 35, attracted over 800 million USD in investment.”

Aside from Nigeria, Dr Edu stated, “In Egypt, startups raised 791 million USD and South African startups raised 993 million between 2015 and 2022 according to Disrupt Africa’s 2022 startups report”

The minister expressed delight that the youth are not only pioneering innovation through tech startups but are also making significant strides in the creative industry, education, medicine, science, leadership, and sports.

On the Japa (migration of skilled persons) syndrome in Nigeria, Dr. Edu explained that a good number of the migrants faced myriads of challenges in the countries of their migration.