Empowering Africa’s youth is one of the most serious challenges facing the African continent today

By Dr. Susan Mboya - Kidero 

Although many African countries are experiencing an economic boom, youth empowerment in Africa is at a crisis stage. 

While Africa has made great strides in providing access to education, we have not matched this with providing equal access to employment. 

African youth are attaining higher education levels than ever before, and with increasing access to internet and mobile connectivity, they are more exposed to Western ideals and aspirations than in previous generations. 

Young educated Africans have come to expect the same opportunities to succeed as their western counterparts. It is these unfulfilled aspirations that are translating to anger and frustration among African youth, with deadly results. 

Africa is experiencing an unprecedented wave of senseless violence, brutality and crime, the outcome of frustrated youth who are struggling to fit into a world that does not have opportunities that match their aspirations. So it is not surprising that youth empowerment is at the top of the agenda for most African governments. 

Young Africans enter the workforce at a faster rate than jobs are created and currently 40 million youth are out of work. 

The rise in the numbers of unemployed youth is directly proportional to the rising insecurity, hopelessness and despair that is manifesting in violence and insecurity across the continent. 

We need to equip young Africans with the skills they need to thrive in the modern world. This is critical if we want to move African countries from emerging to developed markets and to harness this emerging talent that our youth represent. 

As such, any solution to the youth empowerment issue needs to include a mechanism that allows young people to create their own jobs, not just for the sake of employment, but also to enable our economies to thrive and grow at the pace needed for us to achieve our development goals. 

To catch up with the developed world, Africa will need to grow faster and innovate more aggressively than ever before.

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About the Author

Dr. Susan Mboya-Kidero is President of The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation.