The Africa We Want!

” I do not see the countries and peoples of Africa as a world apart; I see Africa as a fundamental part of our interconnected world, partners with America on behalf of the future we want for all of our children. That partnership must be grounded in mutual responsibility and mutual respect.” -President Obama, U.S.- Africa Leaders Summit 2014.
According to the world bank, the youths make up to 70 percent of Africa’s population. This connotes that the continent is presented with a great opportunity and possibly a great challenge. The International Monetary fund predicts that within the next five years, Africa will be home to some of the fastest growing economies in the world. The youth are therefore presented with the task of taking actions with not only an immediate effect but also for the future of the continent. Never has there been such a weighty responsibility on the shoulder of the youth. But for Africa to reap the dividends from the dreams of the post colonial leaders, it is up to our generation as youths to ensure that the influence is channeled correctly and directed towards the most relevant issues affecting the continent. The challenges that the continent is facing are changing with current global technological and economic advancement. The youths are also facing challenges such as employment and entrepreneurship opportunities. To understand the role of the youth in Africa’s future, we must demystify and find solutions to the current problems facing them.
The current unemployment problem that the youth are facing can be resolved by changing the education system in Africa. According to the World Bank, since the 1980s, many national governments and international donors have given higher education a relatively low priority due to the misleading economic analytic view that investment in universities and colleges brings meagre returns compared to investment in primary and secondary schools. Because of this, college students are taught by poorly qualified, poorly motivated and poorly-compensated faculty who are struggling with inadequate facilities and an outmoded curriculum. Secondary education has also often failed to prepare these students adequately for advanced study on matters such as political activism, corruption, violence and discrimination undermining their progress. The education system has therefore been considered to pump knowledge that makes the graduates job seekers due to the emphasis on white collar jobs in these formal institutions; this has corroded the mindsets of the youths who believe that they cannot survive without securing themselves with white collar job opportunities created by the government. The system has also failed by crippling the self employment in the informal sectors, such as carpentry, mindset among the youth. The education system has portrayed some of these ‘informal’ jobs as for the non-educated people despite some of the informal sectors being key primary drivers of the African economy. The success of transitioning to the job market has not been easy for these ‘inadequately qualified’ graduates. For a better future, the various foreign aid institutions should focus on improving the educational institutions within the continent.

 

Therefore, a lot has been said about Africa and its rise in the past few years. For this to be true, I believe it requires its people to also rise and drive the agenda, not wait for instruction or direction from other nations. If this doesn’t happen, Africa may still rise, but only for those with an agenda for the continent. This then begs me the question of fellow young Africans: what is our agenda, and what are we doing to shape that agenda? With regards to the reports from the Africa Development bank, the youths must be therefore get empowerment by coming up with innovative  policies and programs to ensure economic and social development. With industrial revolution of the continent is on the rise and the youths are the forefront in ensuring enough technological advancement in the continent. The systems should ensure that the youth are equipped with the relevant skills for continental development. It is worrying to note the rate at which young educated Africans are leaving to seek more opportunities abroad. The grass is not always greener on the other side, however, as leaders of other nations are also facing domestic challenges and therefore not prioritizing immigrants. If our educational institutions can include entrepreneurship as a mandatory subject at all levels of education, more young people will be better equipped to create jobs and address the issue of high unemployment.

I am a strong advocate for local solutions to local challenges, but for this to happen, we need to encourage and cultivate innovation among our youth. It is encouraging to note that there are pockets of this already taking place across the continent, where we can see uptake and use of locally-designed technology. More of this needs to happen across the board, covering the different sectors of our economies, as Africa still lags the rest of the world when it comes to introducing disruptive technology. Human development is about creating opportunities and building a person’s ability to innovate and be entrepreneurial. Significant investment needs to go towards this.
In conclusion, growth in Africa’s population presents a huge opportunity for entrepreneurial innovations and ideas to be implemented. It does, however, require strong political will to enable the right environment to be created to encourage these ideas and for entrepreneurs to be supported in their different stages of growth, from start-up, early stage and growth stage right through to becoming large corporations. The best way to for us to ensure sustainable development in the future Africa, we should begin to engage in conversations and dialogue amongst ourselves as young Africans and see what solutions we can come up with for a better Africa. Not to spend time complaining about poor leadership in our countries but prepare ourselves to succeed the current generation. Let us intentionally create a culture that encourages the building and shaping of the Africa that we want. The change we want begins with us coming together and developing our own culture and value system for thinking, planning, implementation, accountability, integrity and collaboration. It is up to us as young Africans to shape the narrative of our continent. Let us begin to do so, in every sphere of society.