africa tomorrow

Young Generation In Africa

Young people are not only the key to the future, they are also the ones constructing the present,” (Thomas 2011). The youth are the backbone of a nation. The young generation occupies a special place in society. They can change the future of society with their spirited behavior. In a broader sense, the future of any society depends on the youth. The youth are ready to adapt to changes because they are young, searching for truth, and open to different ideas.

According to the European Commission’s science and knowledge service, commissioner Urpilainen described the youth in Africa as “brimming with confidence and full of potential”. The article further stresses that putting an effort into understanding the opinions, concerns, and aspirations of those young people are going to be vital for future partnerships between the European Union and Africa. The youth are the future workforce with about 11 million young people expected to enter the job market yearly for the next decade (worldbank.org, 2018). While the issue of employment has been one of Africa’s main plagues, the tech-digital space is laying grounds to level the playing field. Since technology knows no boundaries, it has been one of Africa’s lifeline to level up on the industrialization ladder.

Another opportunity the tech space opens for Africa is that multinationals can confidently set up branches in other African countries and include them in the growth of the company while developing the skill set of the African youth, upgrading them in the process. To this end, the World Bank has launched a number of initiatives to increase technological skills and connect young Africans to the global digital economy. (worldbank.org, 2018).

On the flip side to these great positive endeavors, less than 10% of African students get enrolled in higher education, and out of those that make it in higher educational institutions, less than 30% major in the sciences. With agriculture being one of Africa’s main sources of income, little attention and advancements are made in that arena. For one, agriculture is loosely incorporated into the curriculum of most institutions at the basic education level until one decides to take it up as a major, which is not a common occurrence as opposed to deciding to take a course in Biological Science (Medicine) or a business-related course.

The future of the youth in Africa appears to be embracing the world of tech which is great but also appears to be veering off one of the main things we are great at; Agriculture.

References

Ghanem, H. (2018, September 6). Youth key to strengthening Africa’s future. World Bank. https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/opinion/2018/09/06/youth-key-to-strengthening-africas-future

The European Commission’s science and knowledge service. (2020, September 28). Involving Africa’s young people in building a better future. EU Science Hub – European Commission. https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/news/involving-africa-s-young-people-building-better-future