Young people between the ages of 18 and 35 make up two-thirds of Africa’s population. The number is expected to reach 75% by 2030. They live in an environment of rapid urbanisation, high unemployment rates and poor state services. These are some of the factors that incline young people towards political involvement – as seen in Kenya and Uganda most recently.
As the Kenya example illustrates, youth can use protests, advocacy, or voting to express their citizenship. At its most basic, citizenship is a legal recognition by the state that gives individuals rights and obligations.
But it’s more than that. Citizenship is a multifaceted, malleable identity, one in which citizens are always transforming and becoming through actions that generate a sense of belonging.
