Africa’s ‘bold generation’ see bright future at home

Yolande Du Preez|Published 2 weeks ago

Geoffrey Mboya, 24, a Social Work and Community Development student at Mount Kenya University, prominent activist, community organiser and climate advocate, helps a kid to cross a bridge in the Mukuru informal settlement of Nairobi, where he was born. Picture: LUIS TATO / AFP

They see themselves as the "bold generation" and the "conscious youth" of the African continent.

AFP met six African students from Generation Z who, from Dakar to Nairobi, and Johannesburg to Abidjan, displayed a realistic optimism and a desire to transform their countries.

Born just before or after 2000, these students in urban planning, environment, medicine or biology combine their education with a deep political commitment, far from the stereotype of a self-centred generation cut off from reality.

For 24 hours, they allowed an AFP team to share their daily lives.

For Dakar native Sokhna Ndeye Merry Sall it began with morning prayer. For Ivorian Marie Elodie Yeo Guefala it was a tour of a cramped student room on the Bingerville campus near Abidjan.

Palesa Molefe, 22, a fourth year Bachelor of Science student in the Climate Change department at the University of the Witwatersrand, outside her house in Sharon Park. Picture: WIKUS DE WET / AFP

Thick fog enveloped the famous Mandela Bridge in Johannesburg when Palesa Molefe went to class at the University of Witwatersrand while Kenyan Geoffrey Mboya made light work of Nairobi's traffic jams riding on the back of a motorcycle taxi.

All six of them said they want to stay in their countries to contribute to development.

That kind of commitment is not always obvious: nearly six out of 10 young Africans plan to emigrate within three years, primarily to find a job, according to a 2024 study by the South African Ichikowitz Family Foundation.

That report was conducted in 16 countries on the continent.

Sokhna Ndeye Merry Sall (C), a student in biology, chemistry and geosciences, walks to collect a prize for her film project during the Ceremonie de Cloture et Remise D'Attestations du Programme Afric'art Opportunity in Dakar. Picture: GUY PETERSON / AFP

In Nigeria, this widespread aspiration for a better life abroad even has its own slang - "japa" - which means "to flee" in Yoruba language.

"There's the 'japa' syndrome everybody talks about, but, for me, I mean, I'm a patriot," said Nigerian student Covenant Oluwafemi Odedele.

The 21-year-old juggles "marathon days" between medical studies and a project preparing his classmates to enter into the job market.

"I just want to do all I can to help develop my country."

Covenant Odedele (right), in a tuk-tuk in Ibadan, Nigeria. Picture: OLYMPIA DE MAISMONT / AFP

Senegalese Sall said she is shocked to see many of her young compatriots risking their lives and taking the road of irregular emigration.

The 21-year-old student in biology, chemistry and geosciences at the Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar also talked about the crowded lecture halls and the college years cut short by "political unrest".

Her face dimly lit by the flame of a Bunsen burner, Ivorian student Guefala, 25, pointed to the difficulty of studying with frequent power cuts as her laboratory often plunges into darkness.

Despite difficulties, the six students all showed a deep desire to transform their countries. And they did not wait until the end of their studies to get involved in community or political life.

South African Molefe, 21, raises awareness about the environment with her church. Sall is busy with an association cleaning the cemetery in her Yoff neighbourhood in Dakar.

They also agree that their generation is not sufficiently listened to by those in power.

"We still have a long way to go," Odedele said.

For South African Molefe: "The change I would like to bring is to ensure that the voice of youth is included in every decision-making process."

This will translate into "more young people in parliament or among the country's leaders," she said.

"Along with all conscious youth, we aspire to have a place in institutions," Senegalese student Sall said.

Those demands are significant not least because of the continent's demographics: 70 percent of the population of sub-Saharan Africa is under 30, according to the UN.

In 2024, this generation made themselves heard, shaking power with protests in Kenya, driving change in Senegal or no longer listening to the historic parties that emerged from independence, such as the ANC in South Africa.

"Young people in Kenya are rising up, they are uniting across all political divides, across all ethnic groups," said Geoffrey Mboya, 24, a social sciences student who participated in the protest movement and wants to become a member of parliament.

"Young people from all walks of life are now politically aware," he added.

Gen Z "is a bold generation", said Nigerian medical student Odedele, "a generation that believes it can conquer the world, that the world is there to be conquered by it." - AFP