Youth ready to shape the future of Africa
Young entrepreneurs’ technical leaps likely to transform Africa
THIS week, at the World Economic Forum on Africa in Cape Town, under the theme “Then and Now: Reimagining Africa’s Future”, we had an opportunity to discuss the forces that will shape the continent in the coming decades. Nowhere is this force more pronounced than in Africa’s youth.
It is clear that the emerging youth present an unprecedented opportunity to deepen our human capital and, with the right tools, tomorrow’s decision-makers can unlock the continent’s potential.
Africa’s youth are exploring new ways of changing their paths. Rather than relying on traditional business offerings, they are increasingly using technology and innovation to shape their own environment to make it uniquely relevant to them.
The youth are confident they will be around to live their future. Their energy, optimism and passion foster an innovative spirit that enables them to use local resources to develop new and unique solutions.
For instance, Kenyan-born Masai Richard Turere, at the age of 13, constructed a system of lights around his family’s cowshed to protect the cattle against lion attacks. He connected the lights to a vehicle’s indicators, powered by car batteries charged by a solar panel.
While this lighting may not have direct relevance for a suburb in Nairobi, this type of solutions-orientated mindset is a universal asset. If we are going to truly advance the continent, we must marshal and empower this type of resource.
There is no doubt that Africa’s youth will transform the continent in the next 20 years; the only question is how? Current leaders must provide the tools and access, from innovative partnerships and collaborations to access to broadband services and hardware, and the innovation necessary to ensure we are maximising the opportunity represented by Africa’s youth.
One example of this type of innovative partnership is Enactus, a nonprofit organisation that provides a platform for students to create community development projects to improve the quality of life and living standards of people in need. The students are guided by educators and supported by business leaders. Barclays Africa, as the anchor banking sponsor, supported 94 community outreach projects and more than 407 000 volunteer planning and project hours during 2014.
By empowering young entrepreneurs and capturing their energy, we can accelerate pan-African trends that are already dramatically improving lives across the continent.
For example, just a few years ago, cellphones were a rarity in many parts of Africa. Today, sub-Saharan Africa is the largest mobile technology market after Asia, and the fastestgrowing one. According to the report GSMA Mobile Economy: sub-Saharan Africa 2014, the number of smartphones in Africa will increase by 629% between 2013 and 2020. Similarly, cellphone usage will increase by 62% over that period.
Africa has the ability to use technology to leapfrog other regions as it is unencumbered by legacy systems and hard infrastructure that slow innovation. Already, Africa leads in the uptake of technology in some areas. For example, in developed markets just 2% of the population have mobile money accounts, while 12% of sub-Saharan adults are using their cellphones as handheld banks.
In sparking youth to embrace and leverage new technologies, we can tackle economic and social challenges across the region — delivering digital access, financial inclusion, healthcare and innovative new services that would have been impossible even a few years ago.
Adding to my optimism is the fact that our youth are better educated than at any point in the history of Africa. The proportion of young Africans with a secondary education is forecast to rise to 59% in 2030, compared with 42% today, according to the African Economic Outlook. This means 137 million 20- to 24-year-olds will have a secondary education.
The critical skills developed through education will allow this growing population to not only leverage opportunities presented to them, but also to disrupt traditional thinking and create possibilities and paths for themselves.
Education will be further bolstered by greater access to the internet and to e-learning facilities. Google’s Project Loon, which comprises a network of high-altitude balloons to provide broadband to people in remote and rural areas, is set to sign up its first commercial customer next year.
With access to technology and local knowledge, motivated individuals will be able to solve some of the most systemic problems in our communities.
Already, internet access and a steady stream of educated and skilled workers are fostering a culture of innovation and a start-up ecosystem in Nairobi. Described as a Silicon Savannah, it is one of the innovation capitals of Africa, the likes of which can also be found in Stellenbosch.
With a growing youth population, Africa is poised for a dramatic and positive step change. We have a unique opportunity to embrace the World Economic Forum’s theme of reimagining Africa to create innovative partnerships and collaborations that will harness the energy of its bulging youth and transform our continent.
Ramos is the CEO of Barclays Africa