What are the steps that the African governments and the youths can take in building a developing and united Africa?

Africa has been a place of wars and unresolved conflicts for a long time. The conflicts have been political, economic, social and ethnic. One can argue that it is time the youth of Africa should step up and fight for their nations and a united Africa at large. According to the UN 2019, the youth  between 15-24 years constitute around 20% of the population of Africa and it is predicted by 2030 youth in Africa will have increased by 42% which means they are the ones mostly affected by the conflicts in the continent. It therefore justifies why the youth should be included in peace making initiatives, policy making and planning. Decisions that are made will always affect the youths therefore they have to be part of them all. Youths are believed to be the backbone of society therefore needs to be involved in every step of the development and unity of Africa. To start with there is complete need for national reforms and policies in Africa. These policies affect the youths and other civilians at large.

Due to conflicts, wars, political instability and economic instability, Africa’s youth have left their countries of citizenship to seek for greener pastures across the borders. This is one of the root causes of conflict in Africa. It is important that the African governments come up with policy agendas that address the issues of youth unemployment, brain drain and economic exclusion in order to keep them in their respective countries. There is need for the challenges that the youth face to be addressed. Many governments have drafted youth policies on paper but have not fully addressed these policies in practical. For example, Kenya has attempted to develop a national youth policy which has focused on youth participation in community and civic platforms. It is an important step towards national development and unity. However, a study done by the Nairobi Peace Initiative after 2007 elections concluded that achieving national stability, development and unity in the nation, there was need to address challenges faced by the youths. The Kenyan government however recently has tried to address these issues but it seems the attempts have failed and this could be because the African governments in general they are not concerned about the people they save but rather concerned about their own wellbeing and securing future for themselves and their families post leadership times. 

One more concerning issue is that in Africa there has always been lack of comprehensive monitoring and evaluation processes of programs implemented. Projects or policies can be launched and committees are put in place to monitor and evaluate these projects but there have always been issues of lack of accountability. This has been a result of politics, the evaluators are not given free space to do their jobs effectively and accountably because they will already be threatened of their jobs or family security if they expose the high ranking officials. So the people end up not doing their job well.

It is important also to avoid dividing youths among themselves, but rather educate them on issues of unity and development. However, in most instances the youths are used to instill political violence and because they are unemployed, don’t have stable sources of income as well as the capacity to develop, they find this as a survival skill for themselves and their families or siblings back home. In such instances it is advisable to use African structures which command respect to elders.  Leaders taking up space, leading by example, can generally command respect from the youth. This can be used as a tool to instill unity within the youths, in their communities and as a nation at large. 

Studies have shown that it is important that youths be given political positions; the youths should start being engaged and lead. This will help instill confidence in them and at the same time allow young minds to be innovative. Political decisions always affect the growth and development of a nation. If the youth feel empowered and are not idle, they become very innovative and aspiring for more opportunities to change Africa as a whole. Unfortunately African governments have always been led by the old aged who believe they have the right to lead the country .The culture of Africa has always embedded an age hierarchy and believe the older politicians are the ones who formed the political parties as well as fought for the independence of their countries therefore have a right to lead Africa and they also believe they have “wisdom” as well. With this background, it is very much impossible for the African leaders to understand the concerns of the youths because of their age differences. This is why it is so important to have governments that are inclusive of the youth and an age limit as well for participation in the politics of the country. The ages of people involved in policy making determines the outcomes and issues to be considered. 

Generally, it has been observed that, as youth’s lye idle in their countries, they will think of other ways of survival which might end up leading to violent extremism. We have cases of countries like Kenya and Zimbabwe. In Kenya it has been recorded from a study done in the coastal area of Mombasa that Kenya has transitioned contexts from “foreign” to “homegrown” terrorism, in the recent years demonstrated by increased violent extremist attacks as well as recruitment in coastal counties in recent years. A combination of historical grievances amongst the people linked to political and economic marginalization, as well as feelings of religious discrimination, make the area a target for al-Shabaab recruiters to tap into these deep rooted and strong feelings of marginalization, historical injustice and frustration for recruitment and this has seen many youths being recruited into al-Shabaab. This has always been a problem if the roots of conflicts are always ignored.  Zimbabwe is another example where there is a group called “Mashurugwi”. These are criminal illegal gold panners who occupy gold mines .They move around with machetes, catapults and axes. Theses “Mashurugwis” go around terrorizing people and this is a clear picture of unresolved and neglected issues concerning the youth. These gangs consist of mainly the youth and middle aged men. A hungry man will always be an angry man and look for ways to survive. Until now this issue of the Mashurugwis has not been addressed by the Zimbabwe government. This might also mean Africa’s unity and development might never be a success as long as youth issues are not resolved.

Another initiative could be that of involving the youths in recreational opportunities whereby they take part in youth games. This can also be considered as a way of bringing the youths together, learning to interact together in a peaceful manner and this cultivates a culture of unity and oneness. The youths also need to be provided with opportunities for them to listen to motivational speakers whereby the youths are encouraged to stand in unity building their nations and not allow anyone to come in between them. If this is well taught, it will help the youths understand that it is in their own interests that they work together rather than against each other because the future is for them and the next generations to come. One can say, it is generally crucial that the leaders of today and the governments work hand in hand with the youths and address their grievances in a bid to come up with a united developing Africa. 

Rejoice Makaudze is a peacebuilding researcher with The Youth Cafe.

REFERENCES

https://africanarguments.org/2020/02/19/zimbabwe-gangs-mashurugwi-mnangagwa-chiwenga/

UnESco. 2009. Global Education Digest 2009: Comparing Education Statistics Across the World. Montreal Quebec City: Institute for Statistics

United Nations. 1995. “1995 World Programme of Action for Youth to the Year 2000 and Beyond,” Economic and Social council, 59th plenary meeting, 1995.

United Nations. 2019. “ International Youth Day, August 2019”, The Department of Economic and Social Affairs.