Going beyond rhetoric on youth

AFRICA’s young population can bring economic independence to the continent just like the older generation in their youth brought political independence.

This can only happen with strategic investments in health, education, governance and the economy that promote a demographic dividend.

A demographic dividend emerges when the working population outnumbers dependents (children and the elderly).

It is a window of opportunity for economic growth, and Africa must be positioned strategically to take advantage of this.

The African Union must be applauded for recognising that young people are key to attaining this demographic dividend, and made this the core of last week’s 28th African Union Summit.

At the Summit, themed “Harnessing the Demographic Dividend through Investments in the Youth”, immediate past AU Commission Chairperson Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said, “By involving young people, they have a sense of ownership and stake in the future. On our part, we will this year appoint a Special AU Envoy for Youth to mobilise and advocate for the youth.”

The youth are slowly taking their rightful place in the development of Africa and their critical role is now being recognised.

However, more action and less talk is required.

Africa has a median age of 20 while Europe’s is 43. The former has 200 million young people between the ages of 15 and 24 years.

It is projected that African youths under 25 years old will constitute a quarter of the world’s youth by 2025.

This presents huge opportunities for economic growth and development.

On the downside, it presents a challenge for jobs as experts also project that more than half of all new job-seekers will be African by 2035.

It is, therefore, crucial for Africa to make huge investments in the youth who should be empowered to be innovators, job-creators and principled leaders.

Young people should be at the forefront of pushing for economic independence in the same manner the likes of Kwame Nkrumah, Patrice Lumumba, Robert Mugabe, Julius Nyerere, Kenneth Kaunda and other iconic giants of Africa fought for political independence. Africa needs to get it right. Make the right investments in young people and increase the level of participation in continental development, and Africa could become the driving force of the world economy.

The question is: Will Africa take advantage of this opportunity or squander it?

One only hopes that after the AU Summit, African leaders will do the right thing by investing in young people and creating the right economic environment for youth to flourish.

Agenda 2063 should be driven by young people.

Let’s go beyond rhetoric.