Gen Z protests seen across Africa in recent years could pale in comparison to unrest in the coming months following the fallout of the Iran War, the commissioner of the African Youth Survey has warned.
The African Youth Survey is a biannual study tracking the motivations, political opinions and economic aspirations of people aged 18 to 24 across the continent. It offers insight into how young Africans view their futures, their governments, and international partnerships.
The next report is due on May 25, but preliminary findings suggest growing “impatience” among young people on the continent.
Commissioner Ivor Ichikowitz said the war in Iran and the resulting global economic fallout will disproportionately affect Africa’s youth, who are already at “a volatile and potentially dangerous turning point”.
He warned that youth frustration has become “the most dangerous political event that can happen on the continent”, potentially fuelling a new wave of radical political activism and street protests that could further destabilise fragile political systems in parts of Africa and beyond.
Speaking to The Standard, he said the Iran war is having a “very real impact on Africa in a very short period of time,” with energy costs rising in Africa by nearly 50% in some places.
This, he explains, is driving up the wider cost of living, including data, food, and fuel, of which those in poorer areas will be disproportionately affected.
He said the results show that rising pressure will fuel Gen Z’s “impatience with the status quo.”
Mr Ichikowitz added that many young Africans are now likely to “vote with their feet” if governments fail to respond to worsening economic conditions driven by global shocks, highlighting this as a time of resistance fuelled by the new generation.
“The conflict now unfolding around Iran is not Africa's war. African youth did not draw those borders. African nations did not sell those weapons. African governments did not sign those nuclear frameworks,” he explained.
“And yet, fuel prices are rising across the continent. Food supply chains are fracturing. Aid budgets in Washington and London, already under pressure, are being quietly redirected toward Middle Eastern stability operations.
“When a young man in Bamako or Ouagadougou or N'Djamena watches the global order prioritise the geopolitical contest in the Gulf, when he watches billions mobilised overnight for crises elsewhere, while his own government has no electricity, no jobs, no justice, he does not conclude that the system is imperfect. He concludes that the system was never designed for him.
“And that conclusion, that specific moment of clarity, is the most dangerous political event that can happen on this continent.”
The warning comes after recent years have seen rising unrest associated with Gen Z, not only in Africa but in other developing nations.
In 2024, youth-led protests erupted in Kenya and then re-erupted the following year, while there was also widespread post-election protests in Mozambique and Tanzania.
Demonstrations have also been seen in Madagascar and Morocco while further Gen Z protests have been witnessed in Nepal, Bangladesh, Peru, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Africa is home to the youngest population globally, with nearly 60 per cent under the age of 25.
