According to a new survey of youth in 16 African nations, nearly 60 percent of them want to leave their countries because of unchecked corruption.
The 2024 African Youth Survey, based on interviews with 5,604 young individuals from 16 countries between the ages of 18 and 24, is the third iteration of the biennial study targeting African young people.
According to the Johannesburg-based Ichikowitz Family Foundation, Africa's youth have recovered from the impacts of COVID-19, but are dissatisfied with the direction their respective governments are heading.
It also reveals that Africa's young people are not afraid to voice their opinions and believe that corruption is the biggest threat to their future.
"This body of data is starting to become very valuable because it shows us a trend that is very positive," the founder and director of the foundation, Ivor Ichikowitz, told RFI.
"Most people look at Africa as a hopeless case, but the truth is that it's not, and African youth, who are the next generation of leaders, see the continent as having huge opportunities - they're very optimistic about the future of the continent."
However, they have recognised that there are several significant challenges and issues to address.
Fighting corruption
Corruption has consistently ranked among the top three issues identified by this demographic as obstacles to the continent's growth and development, hindering this generation's pursuit of prosperity, Ichikowitz said.
However, this year, it has surpassed job creation, which has traditionally been the foremost concern.
"This tells us that not only that corruption is now being felt in many fields of life - government, business, civil society, in communities in general - and they're done with it," Ichikowitz said.
"They have every intention of speaking out about it, and holding their government to account in terms of dealing with it. This is what we're seeing in this survey."
Significant differences
The survey identified some very significant differences across the continent.
"In a place like Cameroon, 88 percent of the respondents raised corruption as the biggest issue," Ichikowitz said. "At the other end of the scale, only 22 percent of the youth in Rwanda see corruption as a major problem.
"The average is about 65 percent to 70 percent of the youth who have a common, massive issue around corruption."
But young people remain optimistic because they believe that something can be done about it.
Although 60 percent of African youth indicate a desire to leave their countries, they also demonstrate a strong commitment to improving political and economic conditions.
Ichikowitz cites the example of South Africa, where, during the latest elections this year, people voted to punish the ANC for not doing something about corruption.
"I think you're going to find more and more of that happening all over the continent."
Expectations
The survey also shows that North America is the favourite destination for emigration for young people followed by Western European countries such as Britain, France, Germany, and Spain.
This generation of people still values the West, the director said, and wants to work with the West, sees the West as having "a great deal of value to add, but the West need to show up".
What is becoming clearer is that Africans realise that their continent is being used as a proxy battleground between China, the United States, Europe, and Russia.
"It is an economic battleground, a battleground for influence, and for markets," he said.
"The African youth in the next decade is going to become the biggest consumer population in the world, and whoever owns the hearts and minds of these consumers is going to have a massive economic advantage," he added.
Western culture is still very dominant in Africa, but from a commercial, economic, and investment perspective, China has absolutely trumped the West at every single level, according to the survey.
The Chinese have invested in telecommunications infrastructure, roads, sports stadiums among others.
And there's a perception that Western investment in Africa is absent, or not automatically visible.
"In my view, the vacuum that is created by a lack of investment by the United States and Europe is giving China this massive advantage."
He believes there still remains "a huge opportunity" for the West to make up this lost ground, but it has to do something about it fast, because while the West is talking about investment in Africa, China is maxing it out in a big way."
He concluded: "We can talk about a Pan-African youth, despite their economic circumstances, despite their language divides. We are starting to see a real collective that we can call the African Youth."
