The continent might have some of the world’s most youthful nations but it has some of the world’s oldest leaders, many of whom seem to have run out of fresh ideas. This glaring disconnect – that nations’ leadership do not reflect their demographics – does not bode well for development. Nobody understands the needs and dynamics of young people better than…young people. Africa cannot benefit from its huge youthful population if it is continuously and systematically excluded from meaningful participation.

Youth often find themselves excluded from economic processes, making it harder for them to achieve personal growth and self-advancement. They are often regarded as cheap labour for the production process, instead of as innovators. Outdated and sometimes irrelevant educational systems are partly to blame for that. Most of our current educational systems are designed to churn out consumers of knowledge, rather than producers of knowledge, generating job seekers rather than job creators.

Excerpt from an article by Sungu Oyoo published by Africans Rising Movement. More at https://www.africans-rising.org/soy2/