Youth in Africa constituted 19% of the global youth population in 2015, numbering 226 million. The United Nations defines youth as people aged 15 to 24 years. By 2030, it is predicted that the number of youths in Africa will have increased by 42%. Africa's population as a whole is very young, with 60% of the entire continent aged below 25, making it the youngest continent in the world, in relation to its population makeup. All of the world's top 10 youngest countries by median age are in Africa, with Niger in first place with a median age of 15.1 years. There is contention among critics and analysts over what this demographic dividend could mean for African nations; some believe that, with effective governance, the economy could significantly benefit and develop, whilst others have argued that a large, poorly managed youth population may lead to greater instability and civil conflict.
A 2004 study found that young people are the most likely to commit violent acts, as well as more likely to become victims of violence themselves.Moser, C. and Rodgers, D. (2004) 'Change and Violence in Non-Conflict Situations', Scoping Background paper for the DFID Rural-Urban Change Team, DFID, London The youths of Africa experience the globalisation of culture in many different forms, such as through fashion and music, including American rap and hip-hop. A further significant issue for Africa's youth population is the prevention, treatment and eradication of disease, with particular reference to HIV/AIDS, which remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality amongst African youths.Faria, C. (2008) 'Privileging Prevention, Gendering Responsibility: An Analysis of the Ghanaian Campaign Against HIV/AIDS' Social and Cultural Geography, 9(1): 41–73
Employment There is a crisis due to lack of formal skilled employment opportunities across Africa, which is exacerbated by the addition of 10–12 million youths to the labour market each year. The demographic dividend in Africa has the potential to become a 'ticking time bomb', as claimed by Ighobor, or to provide great potential for economic development, which is explored by the United Nations Population Fund.
Youth unemployment across Africa is high, at 30.6% in North Africa, the second-highest rate of a region globally, whilst in sub-Saharan Africa, the rate is declining to 12.9% in 2016. Youth unemployment levels vary from 53.6% in Eswatini and 52.3% in South Africa, to 3.3% in Rwanda in 2016. As age within the working population increases, so do levels of employment, as youths are three times more likely to be unemployed than adults (aged 25 or over), which demonstrates an anti-youth bias across African labour markets.Anyanwu, J. C. (2013) 'Characteristics and Macroeconomic Determinants of Youth Employment in Africa' African Development Review, 25(2):107-129
Graduate employment
Lack of graduate employment opportunities across the continent has contributed towards high levels of informal employment, underemployment and unemployment across university graduates. It is estimated that 600,000 South African graduates are unable to find suitable employment. Many African nations have worked to promote formal skilled graduate employment through schemes such as the Virtual African Higher Education Observatory, which seeks to develop employability skills amongst students, and the National Youth Service in Ghana.
Gender
Young women have higher rates of unemployment than men in all African countries, which may potentially result from gender inequalities in primary and secondary education,Okojie, C. E. E. (2003) 'Employment Creation for Youth in Africa: The Gender Dimension' with only Eswatini achieving gender parity in secondary school enrolment in Africa. In the Central African Republic and Chad, less than half as many girls as boys were enrolled in secondary school in 2012. This takes the foundation for skilled formal employment away from girls, which is further exacerbated by a gender bias in the workplace; women with equivalent skills and experience are five times more likely to struggle gaining employment than men in Kenya. Further issues impacting young women's employment include: child marriage; time poverty through participation in reproductive labour; and laws and customs restricting women's actions and mobilities.
Informal economy
The informal economyDefined by the International Labour Organisation as: 'All economic activities by workers or economic units that are – in law or practice – not covered or sufficiently covered by formal arrangements.' (Cited in Jackson, 2016) comprises 75% of non-agricultural employment in Africa. This is significantly higher than in other regions, and is discouraged by international corporations such as the World Bank and the International Labour Organisation, as informality is viewed as 'a reflection of underdevelopment,' which may also be 'the source of further economic retardation.' Informal employment may also be damaging on social levels, due to its lack of official regulation, limited social security and poor wages and working conditions.
Education Every year, more young people pursue their transition to adulthood through education. This has caused higher demands for post-basic education as the bridge between the aspirations of young people and the promises of a better future through paid employment.Posti-Ahokas, H. 2014. Tanzanian Female Students’ Perspectives on the Relevance of Secondary Education. Academic dissertation, University of Helsinki. But opportunity for a secondary education is not a viable option by everyone, and along with fast-changing societies and economies, there is also a sector of urban and rural southern African youth, who feel disengaged from the education system.
Disengagement from school creates barriers for the youth. School is related not only to the future of a young person, as a resource for upward mobility and a higher quality of life, but also to the person’s current well-being. When disengaged from the educational system, young people become disconnected and isolated, they feel worthless and incapable of contributing in significant ways in the different domains of their lives such as the family, community or at the national level.
Barriers that exist at the primary school level are magnified at the secondary level, including costs, distance to school and the demand for children and adolescents to cook, clean and care for younger children as part of their assigned domestic chores.United Nations Population Fund [UNFPA]. 2012. Status Report Adolescents and Young People in Sub-Saharan Africa. Opportunities and Challenges. Johannesburg, UNFPA. However, these barriers are not the only elements that influence a young person’s decision to engage in post-basic education. Part of this decision involves the schools and other personal factors.
Studies show that in countries such as Lesotho or Eswatini, where education is mandatory until the seventh grade, or Zambia, where it is mandatory until the ninth grade,UNESCO. 2016. Number of years of free and compulsory primary and secondary education guaranteed in legal frameworks. In UNESCO eAtlas for Education 2030. http://tellmaps.com/sdg4/#!/tellmap/-1210327701 (Accessed on 16 February 2017) access to post-basic education has been a problem due to the increasing number of students graduating from primary school. In Zimbabwe, the enrolment rate in lower secondary school rose from 74% in 2003 to 92% in 2013, while in Malawi, lower secondary school enrolment increased from 67% in 2005 to 83% in 2015. A growing demand for secondary school is pressuring the system for better content quality and curricula, along with improved infrastructure and accessibility.
Violence In Africa, 70% of urban residents have been victims of crime, mainly in peacetime,Scheper-Hughes, N. (2007) 'The Gray Zone: Small Wars, Peacetime Crimes, and Invisible Genocides' in McClean, A. and Leibling, A. (Eds.) 'The Shadow Side of Fieldwork, Exploring the Blurred Borders between Ethnography and Life', Blackwell Publishing Ltd., Oxford and youths are the most likely to commit, and be victims of, violence and violent acts. However, lack of reliable data collection methods means that little is known about the true extent of youth involvement in violence in Africa.UNDP (2007) 'The Youth of Africa: A Threat to Society or a Force for Peace?' Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development. New York: UNDP
Crisis
Cruise-O'Brien (1996) describes African youth as 'the lost generation,'Cruise-O'Brien, D. (1996) 'A Lost Generation: Youth Identity and State Decay in West Africa' in Webner/Ranger (Eds.), Postcolonial Identities in Africa, London: Zed Books as he argues that the youth-to-adulthood transition has been blocked or stretched,Spinks, C. (2002) 'Pentecostal Christianity and Young Africans' in De Waal and Argenti (Eds.) Young Africa: Realising the Rights of Children and Youth. Africa World Press in a position of 'waithood' according to Honwana (2013). Cruise-O'Brien believes this is caused by the failure of states and traditional organisations, who have reneged on their promises to the youth population about the rewards of development. Peters (2012) argues that engaging in violence is seen by many African youths as having more meritocratic opportunities than remaining in a patrimonial system that would exacerbate their marginal status,Peters, K. (2012) 'Youth, Wars and Violence in West Africa' History Compass, 10(12):879–888 an example is Cameroon, after the introduction of Structural Adjustment Programs in 1987.Jua (2003) 'Differential Responses to Disappearing Transitional Pathways: Redefining Possibilities Among Cameroonian Youths' Africa Studies Review, 46(2):13–36 However, it must be made clear that not all African youths are in a crisis, but further study is needed into how youths, who do not engage in violence make their own livelihood in a system that is viewed to have failed them.
Youth gangs
There are many 'gangs' in existence and operation throughout the continent of Africa. One example is The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), who have kidnapped oil workers, attacked oil fields, blown up pipelines and fought against the Nigerian army.
Although these gangs pale in comparison to gangs in America and Europe according to the scale of organized gangs in a Fortune magazine article, they are still gangs that are forming due to lack of opportunities. They mostly prey on people living in low income areas because higher economic status areas usually have very good security. The United Kingdom according to the latest US travel advisory, is a Level 2, similar to countries like Kenya but not Nigeria, which is at Level 3. In most African countries, it is best to avoid extremely congested urban areas near slums or poor infrastructure, where the gangs thrive to be able to make a quick getaway.
Martha Carey (2008)Carey, M. (2006) 'Survival is Political: History, Violence and the Contemporary Power Struggle in Sierra Leone' in Bay, E.G. and Donham, D.L. (Eds.) States of Violence: Politics, Youth and Memory in Contemporary Africa, University of Virginia Press describes how young people in Sierra Leone thwarted in their aspirations by age-based secret societies, corrupt politicians and political systems, and an economy in decline, carried out public amputations to send messages to those in power.
Some gangs in the Niger Delta in Nigeria are financed by politicians to act in their favour during election times, or by protecting their private property. Other gangs, such as the 'Kuluna', a system of organised criminal gangs in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, have formed and taken opportunities themselves.