Not #Kaburajadulu, Africa's Generation Z Settling Down to Build the Country

While the Indonesian cyberspace is abuzz with the hashtag #kaburajadulu, Generation Z in Africa is determined to change the future of their countries. Students from Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa are actively engaging in their communities and politics. They are breaking the stereotype of today's youth as supposedly individualistic.

Sokhna Ndeye Merry Sall (21), a resident of Dakar, Senegal, begins her day with morning prayers before studying at Cheikh Anta Diop University. Meanwhile, Marie Elodie Yeo Guefala (25) from Ivory Coast starts her agenda with a tour of the cramped student rooms at Felix Houphouet-Boigny University, near the city of Abidjan.

A thick fog still enveloped the Mandela Bridge as Palesa Molefe (21) stepped towards the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in South Africa. In Nairobi, Kenya, Geoffrey Mboya (24) navigated through traffic congestion by riding a motorcycle taxi towards Mount Kenya University.

They are students from various different majors such as urban planning, environmental studies, medicine, and biology. However, there is one commonality. They want to stay in their beloved country to contribute to its development.

Such commitments are not always common as many young Africans seek to emigrate. In Nigeria, the aspiration to a better life abroad has its own slang, japa. Japa means to run away in Yoruba.

“There is this japa syndrome that everyone is talking about, but, I am a patriot,” Covenant Oluwafemi Odedele (21), a medical student at University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria, told Agence France-Presse, Wednesday edition (19/2/2025).

Odedele is now busy dividing his time between medical school and a project to prepare his classmates for entering the workforce. "I just want to do whatever I can to help develop my country," he said.

Move or fight

The African Youth 2024 survey by the Ichikowitz Family Foundation in South Africa found that nearly six in 10 young Africans planned to emigrate in the next three years, mainly to find work. The study was conducted among 5,604 participants in 16 African countries, including Botswana, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Ghana, Namibia, Nigeria and South Africa.

In Senegal, Sall was also surprised to see many of his compatriots risking their lives to embark on the path of illegal immigration. This student majoring in biology, chemistry, and geosciences stated that the situation in his country had indeed been chaotic due to the political crisis.

Corruption is one of the main reasons why young Africans want to leave their own countries.

From South Africa, Someleze Sigudu (28) said that his government had failed to handle various corruption cases. Corruptors did not receive appropriate punishment, so more and more officials dared to eat people's money.

“I feel like we are not fighting enough because they are not punished and people are still eating money. Corruption creates political instability and unemployment because investors will not invest in a country where corruption is very high,” Sigudu told Deutsche Welle in 2024.

Despite the many difficulties, African students showed a strong desire to change their country. They did not wait to serve their communities and enter politics.

Guefala from Ivory Coast is okay with the hardships of college. Despite frequent power outages, she continues to work in a pitch-black laboratory lit by a Bunsen burner. Guefala is researching plant-based phytosanitary treatments.

Sall is also busy with an association that cleans up the cemetery in the Yoff neighborhood of Dakar. "Together with all the young people who are aware, we aspire to have a place in various institutions," he said.

Meanwhile, Molefe in South Africa is raising awareness about the environment through the church. “The change I want to bring is to ensure that the voice of the youth is included in every decision-making process. This will result in more young people in parliament or among the leaders of the country,” Molefe said.

In recent years, Africa's younger generation has been increasingly vocal in voicing their aspirations. It is important for them to get involved in politics. According to the United Nations, 70 percent of sub-Saharan Africa's population is under 30.

Kenyan youth took to the streets in massive protests that turned violent in 2024. According to VOA, they managed to force the government to withdraw tax proposals and fire several ministers.

“The youth in Kenya are rising up, they are united against all political differences, all ethnic groups. The youth from all walks of life are now politically aware,” said Mboya, a social science student who took part in the demonstrations and aspires to become a member of parliament.

In Senegal, during 2023-2024, young people who support Ousmane Sonko's opposition demonstrated. According to the BBC, they considered Sonko's detention to be politically motivated to benefit incumbent President Macky Sall. Macky Sall even postponed the election.

South African youth are turning away from historic parties seen as silent on corruption, such as the African National Congress (ANC). In 2024, Al Jazeera reported, the ANC lost its parliamentary majority for the first time in 30 years.

“Generation Z is a bold generation, a generation that believes that they can conquer the world, that the world is there for them to conquer,” Odedele said.

Founder and Director of the Ichikowitz Family Foundation, Ivor Ichikowitz, said that the African Youth 2024 survey actually shows a positive trend. Young Africans are aware of and facing the challenges of their respective countries' progress.

“Most people see Africa as a place of no hope, but that’s not the case. Young Africans, who are the next generation of leaders, see the continent as a continent of great opportunity – they are very optimistic about the future of the continent,” Ichikowitz told RFI. (AFP)