Africa's youth can be transformative agents of prosperity
Participants during a high level panel discussion at the Youth Sustainability Conference at Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) on September 17, 2019.
Director-General of the Government Communication and Information System
Republic of South Africa
What you need to know:
Our continent has to remain steadfast in ensuring all children are in school to enable them to get well educated and skilled as change agents envisaged through the AU Youth Charter and Agenda 2063.
If all governments in the continent were to create an enabling environment to allow youth the opportunity to be the agents of change, the future of this continent would be much brighter.
The African continent’s estimated population is about 1,.2 billion, according to the United Nations (UN). About 70 per cent of this population comprises young people under the age of 35 years.
By any stretch of imagination, such a youthful spread in any country, let alone a continent rich in natural resources and an impressive biodiversity, should be considered a treasure as far as development and prosperity are concerned. The benefits of having such a huge population of young people are countless. As a continent, we should indeed celebrate our youth.
