Africa is a continent plagued with civil wars and poverty with 30 per cent or more of its population under the age of 24. Basic infrastructure, education and health care is absent in many areas. African youth are frustrated with unemployment and lack of political participation. This coupled with deadly civil wars and crippling poverty makes a deadly mix for the eruption of conflict and instability. However, with such a large number of youth making up the bulk of the population, Africa’s potential for economic growth can be unprecedented if the correct public policies can be implemented and if the human capital is nurtured and invested in. For lasting peace, youth need to be collaborated with in the governance of their country and need to be significant participants to the road to democracy.Children and youth represent the possibility of either an exit from Africa’s current predicament, or an intensification of that predicament” – De Waal 1

RISK

The statistics in the population table indicate that in Africa, youth make up 30 percent or more of the population. Table shows population in Millions and Youth Aged 10 to 24 as Percentage of Total Population. (Population Reference Bureau: The World's Youth 2006 Data Sheet).

RISK

So why are these statistics important? These numbers indicate the scale of either economic growth that can occur if the correct policies and infrastructure are put in place or the scale of destruction they can cause when socially frustrated or manipulated by the state. Youth are a risk to the continent when they are socially marginalized, excluded from political participation and are faced with the prospects of unemployment and extreme competition for scarce resources. 6
Afua Twum-Danso states that in Africa, three trends of youth agency occur. The first is the co-option of youths by adults for their own needs. 7
The second is the retaliation of youths to the power of adults and the third is youth collaboration with adults in times of conflict or political
unrest. 8
The first two are prevalent in Africa thus there is a growing urgency in collaborating with the youth towards facilitating peace instead of manipulating them to incite political instability and conflict. 9


How are youth manipulated and used to cause social unrest? The youth have played a large role throughout liberation struggles in Africa. For example, Khartoum university students were a key component in the uprising that led to the subsequent exit of General Ibrahim Abboud. 10
Similarly, Ethiopian students were the catalyst for the overthrow of Emperor Haile Selassie in 1976. 11
The Sharpeville massacre also comes to mind when talking of youth as a vital component to the struggle for independence. A similar trajectory seems to have been followed by the youth of the Arab world today seeking to dislodge long standing dictators. According to the Population Reference Bureau, Egypt is experiencing a population bulge with at least 90 per cent of the youth unemployed and frustrated. 12
Africa also exploits youths in the form child labour as they are cheap and desperate or forced into becoming child soldiers. Child soldiers are still used today with the number of child soldiers increasing from 200 000 to 300 000 between 1988 and 2007. 13
African youth pose a risk for the continent when militia life offers livelihood and training essential for survival in many war torn African nations. This militia life which provides a means to food and safety does not only draw away the valuable human capital but also perpetuates the war. 14
More children are attracted to the lifestyle were looting and violence becomes the norm and going back to school becomes harder as they get older.

ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY

The United Nation Population Fund issued a report in 2010 highlighting why youth are an economic asset and engine for growth. They contend that the economic benefits of investing in youth are twofold.

Investing in health and education increases the likelihood of an educated labour force healthy enough to make use of their skills. The one cannot exist without the other. It is unlikely that an educated HIV positive child or TB teenager will survive to adulthood if no anti retro viral drugs or medicines are available. Society loses out on the initial investment in schooling resulting in a decrease in human capital, a reduction in the labour force and a reduction in output. 15
For example, HIV prevalence is over 20 per cent in South Africa with the bulk of new cases each year occurring between 15 to 24 year olds. The extent of the epidemic results in a decrease of GDP growth ranging from 0.8 to 1.5 percentage points a year. 16


Youth are a huge resource for growth in the short run. A large young population sitting idle costs the economy in forgone output as they are not contributing to the economic welfare of their respective countries. The loss of income amongst the youth translates into the absence of savings as well as a loss in the overall aggregate demand. 17
A large and marginalized youth turn to criminal activities for a means to survival increasing the social cost of peace and stability.

The second argument is that Governments should invest in certain programs that are the most cost effective and that will have the greatest impact in improving the lives and opportunities of the youth,thereby yielding the greatest returns on investment. Research shows that a youth bulge in the population when the state is weak, governance is poor with a feeble economy results in an increase in violence and social conflict18 thus public policies play a large role in minimizing the damage that a youth bulge may inflict upon the economy.

A DOUBLE SIDED BLADE

The evidence suggests that the dilemma of Africa’s young population is a double sided blade. On the one hand, they can be a strong engine for growth if there is political stability, investment in education, health care and economic opportunities. On the other hand, when they are socially marginalized with no voice in governance and politics coupled with crippling poverty, the youth are easy and vulnerable targets recruited for war as a militia life offers what the state cannot. Therefore the structural conditions that make it easy to militarize youth need to be addressed before condemning youth to being a persistent irritation to the African continent.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1 A De Waal, Realizing child rights in Africa: Children, young people and leadership, in A de Waal and N Argenti
(eds) Young Africa: Realising the rights of children and youth, World Press Inc, Trenton NJ & Asmara, 2002, p 9.
2 United Nations Population Fund. The Case for Investing in Young People as part of a poverty Reduction. p 8
strategy.2010, p VI
3 Ibid
4 Ibid
5 Afuwa Twum-Danso and others,eds, Invisible Stakeholders. The Political Child (Pretoria: Institute for Security
Studies) p. 7
6 Ibid p. 9
7 Ibid
8 Ibid
9 Ibid
10 Ibid p. 19
11 Ibid
12 http://www.prb.org/Articles/2011/youth-egypt-revolt.aspx.
13 Vera Achvarina and Simon F. Reich. “No Place to Hide. Refugees Displaced Persons and the Recruitment of Child
Soldiers”. International Security. 31 (2006) 1 p. 128
14 Krijn Peters and Paul Richards. ‘Why we fight’: Voices of Youth Combatants in Sierra Leone. Africa : Journal of the
International African Institute. 68 (1998) 2 p. 183
15 United Nations Population Fund. p 24
16 Ibid p. 24
17 Ibid
18 Ibid p. 32