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Roughly 60% of Africans are under the age of 25. By 2050, 1 in 4 people globally will live in Africa. This week, in celebration of International Youth Day on 12 August, we look at how current events could shape the futures of Africa’s youth. |
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Top newsThe youth advantage: This year’s International Youth Day theme of "Green Skills for Youth" holds particular relevance for Africa’s youth. The median age in Africa is 19 years, compared to 38 years in the US, 41 years in the UK, 44 years in the EU, and 49 years in Japan. That means that today’s African youth have an outsized stake in the world’s sustainable development. The economic opportunities from a global green transition could create millions of jobs and help address the challenge of youth unemployment in many African countries. Empowered with the right skills, Africa’s youth could seize these opportunities to become a driving force for lasting development on the continent and beyond. Critical measures: One clear investment in Africa’s future will come from the continent’s abundance of critical minerals. Ghana is the latest country to take steps to maximise the economic potential of its critical minerals. The government approved a new green minerals policy that restricts the export of unprocessed minerals. Ghana is Africa’s largest gold producer and has deposits of cobalt, graphite, lithium, and manganese. With increasing global demand for critical minerals and the EU and US diversifying their supply chains away from China, mineral-rich African countries like Ghana are becoming an attractive alternative. But these countries are trying to avoid repeating history. Instead of exporting raw resources, they’re keen to be the ones who produce and export added-value products. In the past year, Namibia and Zimbabwe banned exports of raw lithium. The DRC, which controls 70% of the world’s cobalt, is reviewing all mining joint ventures with foreign investors. Africa could help drive solutions to the climate crisis, if it puts in place the right policies. And if African countries get the investments they need — cue the MDBs, which could leverage billions of dollars in new lending for this very purpose. Damned if you do… or don’t: The consequences of growing African debt are a dark cloud looming over the prospects of Africa’s youth. And last week brought a baffling decision from a credit rating agency. The same rating agency that raised concerns that Kenya may default on its debt is now accusing Kenya of defaulting on its debt because it wants to pay it off early. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Moody’s ominous warning caused yields on Kenya’s eurobond to rise, meaning higher debt servicing costs for the country. The AU wasn’t having it, blasting Moody’s for its “highly premature, speculative, and damaging” comments, and for ignoring the voluntary nature of the proposed bond buyback. Kenyan President William Ruto was less diplomatic, calling credit rating agencies “tools of colonialists.” In related news: African leaders are demanding more scrutiny of credit rating agencies, as is the UN, which says that the “subjective” ratings of the big three credit rating agencies costs African countries US$75 billion per year in excess interest payments. And it’s not just African countries crying foul: Fitch’s recent US credit downgrade ruffled feathers in the Biden administration. But its effects on US treasury bonds had all the impact of a feather landing. Meanwhile, Africa’s downgrade-driven rise in borrowing costs reduces public spending on health and education and stifles future foreign investment — all of which is crucial for African countries to invest in growing youth populations. The costs of African debt servicing: 
Collateral damage: A minibus taxi strike in South Africa’s Western Cape prevented over 400,000 students from attending school on Monday. The province’s students were amongst those worst hit by the strike, which stranded thousands of commuters. Many who rely on minibus taxis for transportation are from low-income communities on the periphery of big cities such as Cape Town. Many such commuters were forced to either stay home or walk for hours to get to and from work and school. Their accounts offered up a stark reminder of the enduring legacy of the country’s apartheid-era spatial planning. The strike began last week after the fatal shooting of a taxi driver by a Cape Town traffic officer. That caused simmering tensions over a contentious new by-law to boil over. The law allows the municipality to impound vehicles over drivers’ traffic violations, a move taxi owners argue penalises them instead of the drivers who are responsible. Change change change: A referendum in the Central African Republic will allow President Faustin-Archange Touadéra to run for office an unlimited number of times. Touadéra’s political future had been blocked by the country’s two-term limit for president. Election authorities claim that 95% of voters backed the constitutional changes, though critics say turnout was as low as 10% amidst a civil war that has displaced a third of the country’s population. The referendum’s outcome is part of a worrying trend across Africa: At least 14 African countries have weakened or removed term limit restrictions since 2015. In those countries, leaders have been in power for more than two decades, on average. Africa’s median age may be 19, but the median age of African leaders is 63. That wide gap is raising concerns amongst youth who don’t feel their views are being represented. The future looks bright: If you’ve been watching the Women’s World Cup, you know that African women’s football is on the rise. Three African teams – Morocco, Nigeria, and South Africa – advanced to the round of 16 for the first time in any World Cup, women’s or men’s. They did so despite considerable challenges, including disputes over fair pay and unsafe facilities. While none of these teams made it into the quarterfinals, the future of African women’s football looks bright. From the ONE Team
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Quote of the week
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Hero and zero of the week:HERO: The Greening Youth Foundation, which provides environmental education to Nigerian youth and connects them to careers related to environmental sustainability. ZERO: Thomas Stelzer, dean of the International Anti-Corruption Academy, who was suspended over suspicions of... corruption. 🤯 |
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What you should read, watch, and listen to:
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A look ahead12 August: International Youth Day, with the theme “Green Skills For Youth: Towards A Sustainable World” 14 - 18 August: 19th Ordinary Session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia |
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The ONE Campaign’s data.one.org provides cutting edge data and analysis on the economic, political, and social changes impacting Africa. Check it out HERE. |
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