Youth, Technology and Finance : New economy for MENA by World Bank

The new economy will be driven by technological innovation, which has broadened the reach and lowered the cost of training, revolutionized job matching and lowered the cost of incubating start-ups

The World Bank Group in association with the Government of Algeria and the Arab Monetary Fund is organizing a two-day conference in Algiers, from March 26 to 27.

It will bring together policymakers, entrepreneurs, and academics from the MENA (the Middle East and North Africa) region and beyond for a series of far-reaching discussions on what it will take for MENA to grab this chance.  

The Middle East and North Africa Region cover a wide range of countries from Morocco in the West to Iran in the East. The World Bank’s MENA strategy intends to:

• Assist the government in their efforts to eradicate poverty
• Enhance the opportunity for the large segments of the population that do not have access to basic services needed to provide adequate standards of life
• Empower women to play a more momentous role in the development
• Mobilize constructively the aspirations of the young and disenfranchised
• Develop policies and programs to bring sustainable reductions in poverty.

Watch LIVE March 26-27: how can #MENA leverage the full potential of #youth + #technology to create jobs for the future? https://t.co/XxAWJFL6yM #newmenaeconomy @WorldBankMENA @WBG_SPLabor pic.twitter.com/SrYxO32BA6

— World Bank ICT (@WBG_ICT) March 21, 2018

Key objectives of the Youth, technology, and Finance Conference:

• Focus on the building blocks of a new economy that comprise discussions on the role education systems play in changing attitudes toward and encouraging innovation.
• Creating education systems that equip young people with 21st-century skills and developing smart regulations that promote innovation as a driver of private sector development and job creation. 
• Establishing the necessary technical infrastructure, such as accessible and affordable high-speed internet and digital payment systems.

The new economy will be driven by technological innovation, which has broadened the reach and lowered the cost of training, revolutionized job matching and lowered the cost of incubating start-ups

The MENA region will have to create hundreds of millions of new jobs over the next three decades. This challenge presents an opportunity for the region to transform its economies and harness both the creativity of its large youth population and the disruptive power of technology as engines of growth.