According to a UN report, nearly half of the entire African continent’s population is
under the age of 18.The population is set to double by 2050, reaching 2.4 billion.
Africa is on the brink of a “youth bulge”.
So what does the future hold for Africa’s youth?
Philanthropists are encouraging socio-economic growth through young people.
There are many scholarship programs available for youths to improve their future through
education, job opportunities and living conditions.
The Obama Administration has a Young African Leaders Initiative which aims to foster and
connect outstanding members of the next generation.
Yale University also offers a Young African Scholars Program.
There are even competitions, like the ones created by social entrepreneurship organization,
Ashoka and the Mastercard Foundation, which seek innovations in employment for the youth
by the youth of Africa.
Alumni of the organizations are boasted to come from every African country.
And they have created new operations like: the Africa Yoga Project in Kenya, the After
School Peer Mentoring Project in Nigeria, and the Young Volunteers for Environment in
Togo.
Winners of the 2014 Ashoka and Mastercard Foundation competition came from Uganda, Malawi,
Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Cameroon.
Some of the programs helped pregnant women gain access to medical information, or they
helped girls earn money through small passion fruit farms.
One program set up business classes for ex-cons which makes them less likely to return to
prison.
According to several reports, young Africans are interested in entrepreneurship, the tech
industry, and agricultural innovations.
Young entrepreneurs are coming together in numerous start-up think tanks across the continent,
especially in Nigeria and South Africa.
Mobile phone use in Africa has skyrocketed to 650 million subscribers in 2013, which
has become a positive “game changer” for tech development.
The tech industry is also helping to advance the agricultural industry with mobile apps
that help update farmers on market prices and track crop cycles.
Africa’s youth is the driving force behind its digital revolution, which affects not
only the continent, but the world.
By 2100, it’s estimated that 40 percent of the world will be African, which means
the the advances Africa makes today are critical to the future of the world.
For more on Africa’s rising industries and new start-ups, check out this animation from
our friends at AJ+.
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