Across the African continent, a powerful generational shift is underway
“If half of all babies born by the end of the century will be African, what kind of future are we preparing for them?”
By the year 2100, nearly 50% of all children born globally will be African, if current demographic trends continue. Currently, in 2025, 70% of sub-Saharan Africa’s population is under the age of 30, making the continent quite literally the youngest one in the world.
At Salzburg Global Weekend, which highlighted our annual spotlight of “Centering Africa,” participants engaged in spirited dialogue to explore how African youth are reclaiming agency, challenging inherited systems, and shaping a continent grounded in justice, equity, and sovereignty.
Over the weekend, conversations emphasized that African development must be driven by African knowledge systems, inclusive governance, and youth-led design. While the structural constraints are real, from legacies of colonization to inequitable global financing, so too is the momentum for change.
From education reform to digital innovation, young Africans are not waiting to be invited in, but are instead creating the future on their own terms.
“Africa’s future must be constructed – by us. The destiny of Africans belongs in Africa’s hands.”
A recurring theme across conversations was the urgency of unlocking the full potential of Africa’s youth – not just as beneficiaries of policy, but as active architects of change. In many parts of the continent, young people are stepping into leadership vacuums left by stagnant institutions. Salon conversations during the weekend offered examples of youth-led protests on the continent that are changing status quos. In Kenya in 2024 and 2025, young people protested against unjust proposed finance bills, asserting democratic rights and demanding state accountability, despite putting themselves at great personal risk. In South Africa, movements like #FeesMustFall in 2015 and 2016 sparked a political awakening, mobilizing a generation and expanding the space for marginalized voices, including young women and queer activists.
“What you saw in the protests were not riots—they were manifestations of freedom of expression. Young people are trying to engage government, not destroy it.”
Across the continent, where governments falter, young people are not only filling the gaps but reimagining the systems themselves. Whether running grassroots NGOs, leading political protests, or rebuilding communities in post-conflict settings, they are doing the work of governance even when states fall short.
Young Africans are also rejecting the notion that their ideas are inherently inferior. Whether in scientific research, renewable energy, or public policy, there is a call for bilateral exchange with the global community. This generational confidence challenges long-standing paternalistic attitudes in international development and diplomacy.
Access to Education and Opportunities
Speakers pointed out that systemic inequalities continue to be a reality, impacting the journeys of young people across Africa. In education, for instance, many students first encounter basic digital tools like computers only when they arrive at university – well behind their peers from more privileged backgrounds.
Despite this, they remain determined. Many attend weekend classes to catch up, driven by a deep intentionality about their futures. The issue is not a lack of ambition, but a system that fails to meet them halfway.
Beyond access, participants emphasized the need for a shift in educational philosophy: one that centers Pan-Africanism, black consciousness, and mental liberation. It’s not just about literacy or training, but about building an education system that reflects African realities and aspirations.
One panelist shared an anecdote of taking a class of teenagers who lived 20 minutes away from the ocean to the beach for the first time, leaving them incredulous – the lesson being that exposure to opportunity changes everything. Once a young person sees beyond their immediate environment, they begin to dream differently – and demand differently.
A New Kind of Leadership Is Emerging
"Too many young Africans are locked out of leadership and left out of policy decisions."
Young people are not only asking for seats at the table – they are building new tables. From protests in Nairobi and Johannesburg to community-led entrepreneurship in Mogadishu, youth are reclaiming democratic space in ways that challenge traditional authority. Some participants reflected on recent political mobilizations as expressions of civic engagement and freedom, even when met with repression. Others noted the emergence of new voices – young women, queer youth, and artists – who are reshaping activism, culture, and identity from the ground up.
Digital technology is playing a transformative role in this shift. Social media platforms have become powerful tools for accountability and justice, amplifying stories that would otherwise be silenced. Mobile payment systems have enabled financial inclusion even in rural areas, with women in particular gaining new economic agency. For many, these digital spaces offer a form of empowerment that governments and formal institutions have yet to match.
Participants acknowledged that while colonial legacies continue to influence African governance, they cannot be used as a crutch. The task now is to transform systems from within – through accountable leaders, prioritized youth engagement, and intergenerational collaboration. There is a growing call to move away from the extractive, individualistic models inherited from the colonial and industrial eras, and toward relational, just, and regenerative African approaches.
Throughout the weekend, the message was clear: Africa’s youth are not waiting for permission or for perfect conditions. They are leading in education, innovation, activism, and governance.
In some countries, the collapse of state institutions has accelerated this spirit of self-reliance and entrepreneurship. Young people are not asking what the future holds; they are asking what they can hold for the future. In Somalia, where decades of conflict have hollowed out formal governance structures, youth have stepped up to lead schools, launch businesses, and drive peacebuilding initiatives. One young man in Somalia – in another anecdote from a panelist – walked 200 miles to access vocational training in welding and plumbing, and now runs a business that serves his community. This ethos of self-starting leadership is not an exception, but increasingly a defining feature of youth agency across the continent.
The continent stands at an inflection point. With its extraordinary demographic advantage, abundant natural resources, and cultural richness, Africa has everything it needs to shape a multilateral future that is truly inclusive. But doing so will require more than visionary rhetoric: it will demand investment in young people, systemic reform, and a willingness to embrace a new generation of African leadership.
From villages to parliaments and training centers to digital spaces, Africa’s youth are rising. Their message is unmistakable: The future is not something to inherit – instead, it is something to build.
This year's Salzburg Global Weekend is part of our Annual Spotlight: “Centering Africa." Across our sessions and events in 2025, Salzburg Global is highlighting the central role that the African continent will play in global development now and in the next decades. As demographic trends across much of the world project a future of older and less productive economies, the African continent stands out for its growing youth population, dynamism and innovation. In reimagining an international system that better responds to the needs of the 21st century, it is our hope that Salzburg Global can play a small but meaningful role in centering African ideas, innovations, and perspectives in global forums like ours.
