THEME:
ENHANCING YOUTH PARTICIPATION AND REPRESENTATION IN GOVERNANCE IN AFRICA
The African population is estimated to be more than a billion people. Of this, about 65 percent
are under the age of 35. Each year between 2015 and 2035, there will be half a million more
15-year olds than the year before . As such, Africa’s population is young and growing at twice
the pace of other continents . These factual observations have been corroborated by the
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, which projects the number of youth in Africa to increase by 42% by 2030, with the current levels likely to double by 2055. These figures present a catch-22 situation for the continent. On one hand, Africa’s youth population presents a demographic dividend for positive socio-cultural and politico-economic transformation. On the other hand, the African youth bulge, if not positively harnessed, may constitute a deficit hampering the continent’s efforts towards socio-economic development and structural transformation in fulfilment of Agenda 2063-The Africa We Want and the 2030 global agenda for sustainable development.
It has to be recognised that Africa has made significant progress towards democratisation since the late 1980s. Unlike in the 1960s and ‘70s, whereby one-party rule and military rule were the norm, today, multi-party elections are the medium for alternation of power. By and large, in-between elections, democratic and participatory governance is progressively taking hold through a culture of constitutionalism, human rights, justice, rule of law, accountability etc. This progress has been mostly underpinned by several factors including relatively stable governance space; higher domestic demand, coupled with an improved regional business environment and macroeconomic management; increasing public investment in critical sectors, especially infrastructure; a buoyant services sector and expanded trade and investment ties
with emerging economies . Nonetheless, this commendable progress has not impressed the
masses of unemployed Africans, particularly the youth who are grappling with unemployment, inequality, poverty and underdevelopment. Given these challenges, the youth perceive the progress on the governance front, thus far, as non-inclusive.
In its Jobs for Youth in Africa Strategy 2016 – 2025 , the African Development Bank (AfDB)
noted that of nearly 420 million youth aged 15-35 in Africa, one-third are unemployed and discouraged, with another third vulnerably employed, and just one in six in wage employment. In the education sector, despite the surging increase in enrollment particularly between 2000 and 2010, only 6 percent of young people in Africa are enrolled in higher education institutions
compared to the global average of 26 percent . Yet, Africa requires both highly trained people
and top-quality research in order to be able to formulate the policies, plan and implement
programes and projects that are essential to economic growth and development
