Kaboozi with Emmanuel Agbeko Gamor on Youth Opportunities in the AfCFTA

[Muwado Community Management]

Emmanuel Agbeko Gamor is a consummate professional with over a decade of experience in youth engagement; digital and managerial innovation; entrepreneurship and leadership education.

He is a faculty member with the University of Stellenbosch – Executive Education on Digital Reputation management. He runs a podcast “Unpacking Africa” that interviews & explores multi-stakeholders in multiple industries across the continent. He is the convener of the Podcasters Unite Africa network and curator of the KukuZa Podcasters Festival. As the co-Chair of the World Economic Forum, Global Shapers advisory council on Knowledge and Impact, and an ex-Googler and former YouTube country manager, he continues to explore global digital innovation & best practices. In Accra, he oversees the Eliu Gift Hub, an innovation space at the intersection of culture, connectivity and commerce for artisans in the creative economy.

He is a philanthropist, runs a social enterprise Urithi Labs, and volunteers with the Rotary Clubs of Accra-Ring Road Central, Johannesburg & District 9400 Polio Plus Committee.

Join the kaboozi with him this Friday 7th May 2021 at 06.00 pm EAT (but feel free to leave a question before then which he can respond to when the session starts) as we chat with him about the African Free Continental Trade Area and the opportunities it presents for youth on the continent, other matters of interest to him, and life in general. You can participate by using the form at the bottom of the page to ask a question. To respond to a thread, hit reply on the contribution you want to comment on so it’s easy to follow.

[Emmanuel Agbeko Gamor]

I am super excited about this needed conversation and knowledge-share. AfCFTA is one of the tools for us, Africa’s youth, to be economically empowered in actualizing #TheAfricaWeWant.

[James Kato]

Hi Gamor. Impressive CV you have there. And thanks for this conversation. I personally feel there’s so much I still don’t know about the AfCFTA. For context, how close do you think the agreement can get us to the United States of Africa, or whatever we choose to call it…

[Emmanuel Agbeko Gamor]

Great question @ James Kato. The AfCFTA is a relevant first step for a single market that should lead to economic empowerment by (simply put) boosting intra-trade within African countries and external global trade from Africa beyond the less than 15% the entire continent contributes. A United Africa also has a political unification element to it. So there is definitely more work to be done by all of us: our leaders, our youth our community, our regional and national representatives!

[Rolex]

Hey Gamor. Thanks for doing this. Straight to the AfCFTA matters, what are the sectors you are personally excited about in terms of opportunities they present for the youth?

[Emmanuel Agbeko Gamor]

Great observation @Byagaba Roland, it is an important question. The lowest barrier to entry for young people in my opinion, is the Creative Manufacturing and hand-made sector/industry. I share a report by MasterCard x We The People on how we are already creative and artisans and with some business development and enterprise support we can engage young people in the Global Digital Economies and help them scale from artisans to Medium-Large creative businessmen and women. I share my theory of change to address this here: http://www.eagamor.com/eliugift

[Rolex]

I agree on the low barriers to entry for this sector. I also like your theory of change and wish you the best with the eliugift project. It sounds like it’ll do major good if implemented as envisioned. Will look for that report and go through it.

[Opio]

Hey Gamor. Greetings from Kenya here. And thanks for trying to break down the AfCFTA for us youth. I see you are also into content creation. Ours hasn’t been the the most sustainable of sectors and I was wondering if you have any thoughts on how artists and creatives can take advantage of the free trade agreements to grow the sector.

[Emmanuel Agbeko Gamor]

Thanks for your question @ Apio, yes it is incredibly relevant for creatives to find our place in local and international economies/communities. The initial rounds of negotiations however are trade-heavy so think non-barriers to trade, tariffs, harmonizing trade between countries that have ratified, and adopting new trade regimes (WHO also plays a key role in this so having a Diretor General from Nigeria is a positive indicator). However for creatives, there have to be negotiations on IP protection, competition among others to protect, reward and commercialize scaled creative output on the global stage for Africans. A good website to follow on updates is the Africa Trade Observatory: https://ato.africa

[Opio]

And maybe more specific to podcasting, you curate an entire festival and even advise google on podcasts…I want to be like you when I grow up…hehe. The real question is what you’ve observed about the indstry from your vantage point and if it can be a career on the continent.

When does the festival happen and where?

[Emmanuel Agbeko Gamor]

Thanks for this, my personal podcast journey started with Unpacking Africa (https://www.africapodcastfestival.com), with many in my network asking about my tools, tips, and tricks on creating content during the pandemic and that’s how the Podcast Unite Network of 50+ African podcasters from 10+ countries. Google x PrX reach out to join their board and it has been a privilege engaging with and advising podcasters of color from across the world.

In terms of festivals, we collaborate with the Africa Podcasters Festivals (https://www.africapodcastfestival.com) with digitally hosted podcast festivals in 2020 and 2021 to accommodate for social distancing and engaging a pan-African and diasporan audience.

KukuZa is focused on using podcasting as a project-based learning opportunity for young Africans to join in digital creation and curation in their own language, from their own communities, and in their own perspective. We are looking to host one 4th quarter of this year and when Covid-19 remedies are in place, to community and campus activations in 2022 and beyond.

[Opio]

Thanks for the response. Started on your podcast over the weekend and it’s excellent. I’ll be following the African Podacst Festival and KukuZa for more developments.

[Agency for Transformation]

Hello Mr Gamor. We are in the agriculture sector and our work revolves around empowering farmers so they can modernise their practise and make it more profitable. Still, we still have a challenge of exporting raw materials yet the real money is in production of finished goods. This cuts across to minerals and other sectors. Now that we want to be dealing on a continental level, are there provisions for the countries that produce more food to support their counterparts and, more importantly, can we expect to see a drive towards production under the AfCFTA?

[Nakato]

Hello Mr Emmanuel…you have a very nice smile.

Two questions…when is the african passport coming and what does it actually mean?

When are we getting visa free travel around the continent?

[Emmanuel Agbeko Gamor]

Thank you so much for the compliment. My mom and I share similar smiles.

Technically the Africa passport is launched and accessible to leaders, I speak about what access to intercontinental travel for all Africans means here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPVNfMHzsEo but not widely distributed due to country lockdown and travel restrictions due to the Covid-19 global pandemic.

The priority now is to have healthy Africans economically empowered to live full lives. In post-Covid travel there may be additional requirements (Covid-vaccination cards) among other things, to facilitate cross-border, intra-Africa, and global travel.

We have to wait and see.

[Nakato]

Leaders and rich people. I remember something about Dangote having one. I guess we wait then. Thanks for the response

[Nakato]

Don’t know if you are still responding to questions but that last part wasn’t clear. Is there a roll out plan for these passports for us poor non leaders? How much power will the passport actually have over the national ones? Can I stay anywhere on the continent indefinetly if i have one?

[AfricanYouth]

Very important question this. How do we remove classism from this process? I know the lord gives those that already have but are there efforts to make this process equal opportunity?

[AfricanYouth]

Interesting platform this. Agbeko, how are you brother. Thanks for all the impressive work you are doing for the continent. As one of us youth that is observing the Afcfta developments, what are the biggest barriers holding it back and are the youth actively being considerd in decisions made or the old men are prioritising themselves first as usual.

[Emmanuel Agbeko Gamor]

@AfricanYouth
Hello brotherly, thanks for following and joining Muwado through social media to engage with us on here. Great question, so AfCFTA being lauded as a “game-changer” by older generation policy leaders, economists, and industrialists because of the opportunity to recalibrate trade beneficiaries both intra-regionally on the continent and on the global world trade stage.

There has been a report that sheds light on opportunities for women and youth (usually classified together) here: https://au.int/en/documents/20201202/making-afcta-work-women-and-youth the thinking though is from a production capacity stand-point because the assumption (and reality) is that women and youth aren’t in the investment asset class to really enjoy the local industry wins based on ownership.

In sum, what AfCFTA looks like for us young people is a window of opportunity for us to be audacious in our entrepreneurial ventures, to be bold in establishing businesses that potentially serve 35+ ratified countries with sourced talent that are not bound by geography and shared incentives beyond local challenges for all our creative manufacturing, hand-made and crafts as well as digital economy innovative products and services. Africa is our oyster and we must engage, enjoy and beneficiate from it with the audacity of our peers in the USA, Europe, and Asia. I’m leading in the best way I know how, here: https://www.eagamor.com/maps

[AfricanYouth]

Alright alright. Very encouraging words brother. I’ll set aside time for that report. But what you said about production capacity standpoint isn’t sitting well with me. The robotics and automation wave is coming first which means we might have to leapfrog that oldschool industrialisation that China went through. What happens to us then? I get the opportunity is presents by opening borders but are there any policy proposals in that structure actively creating an conducive environment for innovation and entrepreneurship that you might know of?

[Emmanuel Agbeko Gamor]

@AfricaYouth please read the report, it responds to your follow-up question beautifully and in summarized and technical-economic details. Over the last year after adoption ratification in January 2021, there are many insightful and contextualized industry and country-specific policy proposals (and policy directives) to help you further.

[AfricanYouth]

The report it is then. Let me take a dive into it and then see which officials from my country to engage. Asante bwana

[Gloria]

Chisos, were do you find the time to do all these things? Show me your ways master. Seriously. So, I’m in tech and you my friend have done the things!!! Why did you leave google and YouTube? And how do you feel about big tech entering the continent…wont it spoil local innovation?

[Emmanuel Agbeko Gamor]

Thanks @Gloria I am incredibly passionate about what I do and gratefully I have consistently and painstakingly built skillset in prioritization, execution and driving initiatives from ideation to execution.

Growing up with entrepreneurial parents means that I was raised thinking of all the ways I may use my skillset for both gainful employment and community advocacy. As I have grown older, however I am also mastering the process of giving myself grace when things don’t work out immediately and taking time to also rest and have healthy experiences that recharge my body, mind and soul.

I am blessed to know what I enjoy, what I’m good at and focused in delivering the best I can on all of these.

I am always directly or indirectly working with global tech giants in Africa; see my work with Facebook and the communication certification program here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/certified-emmanuel-gamor

I have colleagues and friends in most of these companies and with the new HQ establishment of Twitter, it is an exciting time because they present resources, strategy and support that our local governments and business-leaders will/cannot give in ecosystem development.

I left Google and the Ghana YouTube team during the height of “Dumsor” (electricity power outages) in the country and it made it near impossible to meet internal KPIs for online platform use, when most in the country needed to figure out electricity rationing for every-day living.

With good contextualized strategy, inclusive implementation and local hires in funding deployment and execution, global companies’ resources may be used as a force for good.

[Gloria]

As we say here…emama. Has the electricity in Ghana become stable? Have you considered going back to big tech…especially now that they are coming here to set up shop or invest in our startups? I saw that you are advising google podcast now. Emama. How was the work culture there? What do you miss the most about it? What underground African start ups are giving you excitement? Ok, let me stop questioning now lol

[Emmanuel Agbeko Gamor]

Whew @Gloria this is my very last response. Thanks for the interest.

I share quite extensively the latest projects, consultancies, and engagement with “big tech” local tech, academic institutions from Harvard Business School to African Leadership University in Mauritius to Wits and Stellenbosch Business Schools in South Africa here: https://unpackingafrica.substack.com/

I cover all the questions you asked in Unpacking Africa entrepreneurship in highlighting them, interviewing and spotlighting them via my podcast, and showcasing collaboration on the continent with the various working environment in different countries on the African continent and with Africa’s diaspora.

[Gloria]

Cool, i have subscribed to unpacking africa so let me wait for updates. I will listen in to the podcast too.

[Gloria]

For AfCFTA…what would you do differently if you were in charge?

[Emmanuel Agbeko Gamor]

It’s early days yet, H.E. Wamkele Mena is acting really driving AfCFTA, the other/flip side of a continent-wide policy is the many stakeholders in collaboration with the secretariat to make AfCFTA work. It is a challenging job during a challenging time, I don’t think you need positional leadership to contribute to knowledge-share, engagement, and advocacy that leads to meaningful collaboration. I would like to admit that I’m already doing all of these with the limited resources at my disposal.

[Gloria]

I understand. Best of luck to the team then and let me try and be like you and do my part.

[Emmanuel Agbeko Gamor]

Awesome weekend to all. Kindly research AfCFTA and follow-up with individual country trade ministries and regional trade regimes as well as relevant industry stakeholders (industrialists, economists, and policy-makers) from trade, agriculture, creative economy, tech education, health, travel, intellectual property, rules of origin, outsourced-work, to name a few.

Thanks so much for participating, please be engaged, research, dialogue, and be an active participant in demanding, co-creating, and taking the economic opportunities of the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement and the many ongoing ratifications at the WHO (global) to local community levels by you! #AfricaWeWant #YesWeCan

[Opio]

Ok, thank you so much for all you have shared. this has been very informative.

[Gloria]

Thanks Emmanuel

[Muwado Community Management]

A huge thank you to Emmanuel Agbeko Gamor for sparing the time to share on AfCFTA and the opportunities it presents for African youth. Thank you to everyone that participated as well. See you on the next one.

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