He raised the alarm while speaking on Thursday in Paris at the ‘Tech for
Summit’ organised by Emmanuel Macron, president of France.
On why young people on the African continent are migrating to countries
in the global North, Elumelu said the lack of economic opportunities is
a driving force.
He said: “Africa needs this type of gathering – we are a continent with
over 60% of its people under the age of 30 – they need economic
opportunities, they need hope”.
“I represented the African continent to draw attention to our young ones
who seek economic hope and opportunity via technology.
“Technology is a great employer of labour, technology drives
inclusiveness, technology helps to alleviate poverty, but we must not
forget that in Africa we are just starting out and we cannot afford to
lag behind.
“We need the world to pay attention to Africa so that young Africans are
not disenfranchised and left behind in this new technology era. We need
the world to pay attention to the plight of young Africans so that
issues of migration can be addressed in a more fundamental way – by
tackling the root cause which is a lack of economic hope.”