Participation & Governance

African Youth: Fulfilling the Potential (2012 Ibrahim Forum Facts & Figures)

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African leaders currently face the daunting task of creating one-million jobs per month in order to keep employment figures in step with population growth. The recent Mo Ibrahim Forum in Dakar, Senegal, offered a fantastic opportunity for youth delegates from across the continent to engage as equal partners in debating this challenge; and it was an opportunity that they grasped with both hands, asserting the young as leaders in this struggle.

African leaders currently face the daunting task of creating one-million jobs per month (The Guardian, 2012) in order to keep employment figures in step with population growth. The recent Mo Ibrahim Forum in Dakar, Senegal, offered a fantastic opportunity for youth delegates from across the continent to engage as equal partners in debating this challenge; and it was an opportunity that they grasped with both hands, asserting the young as leaders in this struggle. This data report, structured around five key areas -

Mo Ibrahim with members of Restless Development’s Youth Delegation via The Guardian, 14.11.12

Africa’s Demography

Health & Well-Being

Education

Employment

Participation

- represents a statistical breakdown of those topics discussed.

Covering the only continent in the world with a significantly growing youth population - ‘in less than three generations, 41% of the world’s youth will be African’ & ‘by 2035, Africa’s labour force will be larger than China’s’- this report represents essential reading for all those interested in reframing the so-called youth bulge as an asset, rather than a liability.

The challenges facing African State’s are clear and not to be underestimated. However the continent’s youth - a term that must be conceptualised as a dynamic (as opposed to static) transition from childhood to adulthood - are at their ‘natural prime’, and ready and willing to unleash their energy and expectations upon these challenges. African youth are a ‘precious resource’, and one which must be fully engaged in building towards a more socially just future.

Full Data Report: http://www.moibrahimfoundation.org/downloads/African-Youth-Fulfilling-the%20Potential.pdf

Featured Image Credit: Rockerfeller Foundation