African Youth are Truly Rising: Can Africa Feed itself

Abstract

AFRICA RISING: This is a term coined in 2011 to describe the rapid economic growth across Sub-Saharan Africa since 2000 and the anticipated continuation. The Financial Times defines Africa Rising as a "narrative that improved governance means the continent is almost predestined to enjoy a long period of mid-to-high single-digit economic growth, rising incomes and an emerging middle class" [1]. The term was first coined by The Economist in December 2011 [2, 3]. Was that term Africa Rising timely then? Going by what is going on in my mother country of Kenya, I believe this is now truly Africa Rising. Why is that so? This is a new era in the world, a unique era, a turning point, the era of the internet, the era of AI, the era of fast growth, and meta data, an era of going to the bottom of the ocean, to the skies and the orbit, it is an era of information overload, it is an era of Innovation and Kenya and Africa will not be left behind. But things can only work when there is good governance and political good will. Africa has a huge youth population and the youngest population in the world; there is no doubt we are sitting on a powder keg if we cannot think of how best to manage this population. This is currently being demonstrated in Kenya. The genesis is in when primary education was made free at the start of year 2003. The adult literacy rate in Kenya is over 83 percent, and the graduate output is about 50, 000 per year, yet very few job opportunities. As a country, Kenya has invested very well in education, but the question is: where do the so many well educated Kenyans go for jobs? We come from a terrible past of colonialism (1920-1960) and a hard won independence. The Mau Mau struggle (1952-1960) during which many Kenyans were massacred, mutilated, executed and separated from their families. To date, as a nation we have never recovered from the atrocities of the colonial era. We are told the Kenyan coffers were empty when power changed hands. The initial freedom fighters might have had a good vision, and hopes for their people to have better prospects in life. The political elites and opportunists took over and just continued with "things as usual", without addressing what the struggle was all about. Sixty years later, after independence in 1963, the young generation are at a loss as to what freedom we actually got, just for a few? They cite a myriad of problems starting with bad governance which leads to: joblessness, theft of public resources, inept public services, promotion of mediocracy and refusal to recognize and promote talent and innovation, high cost of living, over taxation without much to show for it, and so on. As I have grown older, I appeal to the young people of Africa to work on ridding the continent of the indignity of hunger, malnutrition, poverty and disease. This for me is the start of Africa rising, a new phase that will run for a couple of decades or so, as we try to change African citizens’ mindsets. Good luck to all of us. Surely it has to start with being able to feed ourselves. As of now, no one knows where it is headed but the latest poll by reputable firms shows that the protests by our youth has over 80 percent support nationally.