Two trends will shape Africa’s future: rapid urban growth and a youth boom. More than two-thirds of the continent’s population is under 30 years old. And from 2035 onwards, it is predicted that most of these young people will live in cities.
This could also change the political landscape, says Titus Karoki, coordinator of the Just Cities project at Kenya’s Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES).
DW speaks with Karoki in Berlin, the capital of Germany. There he is participating in a workshop organized by the German political foundation FES on political participation and the role of young people in African cities.
At the workshop, Karoki will present photos from the large-scale protests held in Kenya earlier this year, which were primarily attended by Generation Z, the generation born between 1995 and 2010.
The protests forced President William Ruto to cancel tax hikes on bread, oil and gasoline and reshuffle his cabinet.
“What Gen Z has been able to do is start demystifying complex things like tax laws and legal documents, making them easier to read, easier to understand, and translating them into different languages,” Karoki said. say.
The demonstrators had no central organization or leader. Rather, they were motivated by issues and mobilized through social media.
He added that these young urbanites are increasingly aware of the need to share a political background with their rural peers, and the movement continues to develop from a passive to an active one. Ta.
Will it become more susceptible to populism?
“We are certainly looking forward to seeing more protests in the coming decades,” said Lena Guteil, a researcher at Megatrends Africa at the German Institute for Development and Sustainability.
She observes that African youth living in urban areas avoid formal forms of democratic participation, as they rarely vote or join political parties. In fact, young Africans prefer to protest.
Gutheil says this is an expression of their dissatisfaction. Only one in six young people in Africa has a stable job, and one third are unemployed.
Even when the state provides support, the vast differences between their circumstances and those in wealthy urban areas create a “feeling of not being part of society,” Gutheil said.
Gutheil sees this as a danger, predicting an increase in “populist appeal” to young people living in the continent’s informal settlements.
Tackling “democracy on an empty stomach”
Karoki is familiar with life in these settlements. A 2022 FES study found that such neighborhoods are the result of colonial-era divisions of urban space. Almost 70% of informal settlements serve an important economic function, which is the real driver of growth, he says.
Unfortunately, many are not recognized and that is why they do not participate in the formal political process, he added, with residents not attending town hall meetings or interacting with local politicians. He explained that he was holding back.
As for Mr. Gutheil, he believes that “democracies need to ensure that people can once again have confidence that their institutions work,” stressing, for example, that African governments have a duty to provide infrastructure and public goods. I am doing it.
Karoki focuses on new platforms for civic education that explain the importance of participation and how to participate. However, in comments addressed to European partners, he stressed the need for fair use of resources as well.
“We are practicing democracy on an empty stomach,” Karoki said, adding that there is a need to restart honest dialogue on decolonized relations.
Need strategic funds
Karoki says the European Union needs to rethink its approach to promoting democracy, because promoting democratic values is not enough.
“But there is a lot of potential in strategic financing and the design of public goods and services that can create win-win situations,” he says.
For example, Karoki said European companies like Siemens could use EU funds to build high-speed public transport in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. “They will not only benefit but also help the city of Nairobi achieve major milestones in unlocking more economic opportunities and reducing economic losses,” he says.
Improving public transport would benefit a huge number of people, he added, as currently almost 40% of the city’s residents have to get around on foot.
Much is at stake in the future. “There is hope, but there is also fear,” Karoki said. On the other hand, there is a sense of networking and appreciation between Nigerians and Ugandans who, inspired by young Kenyans, have launched their own protest movement, which they hope to “share in a democratic way.” “That’s a good thing,” he says.
However, Karoki is concerned about the authoritarianism that has taken hold in the Sahel region following military coups and other events. African democracies are also under pressure from rampant misinformation both online and offline. He says it’s important to pay close attention to how the Gen Z movement rallies, communicates and protects itself from disinformation and echo chambers.
This article was originally published in German.
