The Rise of Youthlash: African Youth and the Democracy Dilemma

A recent Open Society Barometer report found that “young people around the world hold the least faith in democracy of any age group.” Although revealing, the report’s findings are not particularly surprising. There have been several indications, especially in Africa, that there is a rapidly growing discontent among Africa’s young people towards democracy and democratic forms of government. The report confirms findings from other similar research in Africa, where over 60 per cent of the population is under 25. 

For example in Zimbabwe, before the country’s August 2023 elections, a survey conducted by Afrobarometer among potential voters revealed that despite the high number of Zimbabweans who had registered and were willing to vote in the elections, young Zimbabweans were “less likely than their elders to report being registered, and only slightly more than half of 18- to 35-year-olds say they will probably or definitely vote.” The reason for this is simple - the youth of Zimbabwe, as with their counterparts in many other countries across Africa, are not benefitting from the dividends of democracy (i.e., respect for the rule of law, provision of basic essential socio-economic services, etc). Democracy as we know it has yet to address the bread-and-butter issues of Africa’s youth and young people.

In 2022, the Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG) report described the increasing and worrying trend of disillusionment among African youth as a ‘youthquake’. The same report also projected that by 2100, Africa’s youth will represent almost half of the world’s youth. Therefore, this troubling phenomenon, which I refer to as the youthlash against democracy and democratic governance systems in the continent, should be a central topic in our discourses. 

Youthlash: Young people’s response to the failings of democracy

Like a backlash, youthlash refers to the deep-seated and adverse reaction of the youthful population against current models of democracy. It is the collective, often unplanned, but generally understood response of the youth to boycott the governance systems and leadership structures in society. In Africa, it is being manifested in multiple ways. Firstly, through a general reluctance to engage with politics or political processes associated with democracy and secondly, through direct violence or support for violent actions undertaken by others.

Youthlash is the counteraction of Africa’s youth against the older political generation as well as older political systems and approaches, with a view of causing or triggering change. Having tried and tested democratic routes to influencing change by voting in elections and supporting elected candidates, African youths have become scarily disconnected in some cases, demoralised, and discontented in others. Beneficiaries of the status quo may argue that this is not new and that what we are experiencing across the continent has happened before, especially in the ‘70s and early ‘90s. However, the current manifestations of youthlash against democracy may be the scariest and most dangerous. This is primarily because youths now have the technological and mobilisation tools that were not available to previous generations.

Another way in which youthlash against democracy has manifested itself in the continent is through several coups. In fact, almost all the heads of the military regimes in West and Central Africa are between the ages of 35 and 45. All but one of them is below 50. For example, Burkina Faso’s military leader is 35-year-old Capt. Ibrahim Traore. His Malian and Guinean counterparts, Col. Assimi Goita and Col. Mamady Doumbouya, are both 42 years old. What all these men have in common is that they have all replaced old civilian politicians who have either thwarted or attempted to truncate one democratic process or another in their respective countries.

In the case of Guinea, for example, Col. Mamadou Doumbouya took power from 86-year-old Prof. Alpha Conde. Two years prior to the coup, Prof. Conde had changed his country’s constitution to allow him to run for a third term in office. I was in Conakry a few days before the contested referendum that allowed him to change the constitution. On my way to the airport on the eve of that referendum, the then-president had ordered the army to take up positions in strategic locations across Conakry to prevent protests and riots. My driver at the time, a young man in his late 20s, told me that the military had been deployed in mostly opposition areas. After the referendum, Prof. Conde used the same military that later removed him from office to shoot at and injure groups of youths who challenged the referendum results. Many of them jumped to the streets two years later to celebrate the removal of President Conde from office and welcomed the young Colonel Doumbouya with open arms.

However, despite the recent spate of coups and the relatively youngish age range of the coup leaders, Africa is still being led by older men. It is the youngest continent with some of the oldest Presidents or Heads of State. According to the IIAG 2022 report, Africa has the youngest population of any region in the world. The current median age in Africa is 19, but the current average age of the continent’s leadership is 62. The continent also has some of the longest-serving Presidents, with some having been in power for over forty years. In displays of youthlash, young people in different parts of the continent have mobilised quiet or forceful revolutions to reverse this anomaly.

What does the future hold for Africa’s youth?

As a continent, Africa has an opportunity to remodel its approach to leadership. This remodelling should comprise four broad elements.

Firstly, the youth and young people need liberatory education. Our current educational systems are not liberatory in nature and as such we are producing a crop of future leaders who simply copy and paste the leadership styles of the older political generation leading the continent right now.

Secondly, there is a need to reimagine and redefine our understanding and relationships with democracy and democratic forms of government. This means, that we need to collectively unlearn the various problematics that have tormented our systems of governance.

Thirdly, we need to reform our laws and systems that prevent young people from contesting for elective positions and hope that when young people get to positions of authority they will resist the temptations of repeating the sins of the older political generation.

Finally, the future of Africa’s socio-economic prosperity heavily depends on creating economic and political opportunities for its young people. Improving all the relevant components of society is key to ensuring the continent’s next generation’s contribution to that development. This all comes down to a dynamic leadership and an inclusive governance architecture. It is therefore crucial that an enabling space is created for young people to thrive in leadership roles. It is equally important that when they eventually get into positions of power, they do not just become political vuvuzelas - loud annoying noisemakers but are passionate about addressing the concerns of their people. 

The views expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity programme, the International Inequalities Institute, or the London School of Economics and Political Science.