Africa’s rising Gen Z movements are putting governments under pressure. Young people on the continent say they want a real place in shaping their countries’ futures, yet many feel excluded by leaders far older than them. Their frustration is spilling into streets from Madagascar to Morocco, and new survey data points to fast-falling trust in institutions.
South Africa used its G20 presidency this year to push youth involvement more than any previous summit. The Y20 process – created in 2010 to bring young people into G20 debates – took on new urgency, given that Africa has the world’s largest population under the age of 30.
Y20 South Africa 2025 ran under the theme Youth for Global Progress. Its aim was to open space for young leaders to help shape the global agenda.
Levi Singh, its 25-year-old chief coordinator, said encouraging youth participation in global events and politics should be an absolute priority. This G20, he added, was the most successful so far in getting that message across.
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“As this was the last time that the global south was leading the G20 for the foreseeable future, we thought it was a unique opportunity to mobilise around youth participation,” Singh told RFI.
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Generation gap
The idea of making youth leadership a formal part of political systems drew far more support in the Global South than in the seven richest nations in North America and Europe, Singh said.
“In Africa in particular, you see the median age today is 19 years old, yet the median age of an African leader, a parliamentarian, a minister or a president, is between 67 and 69,” he explained.
“So there’s a profound intergenerational divide between the majority of the population and those who are in power and in leadership positions.
“At the Y20, we weren’t calling for people over 65 to be chucked out of office, but for a greater sense of intergenerational collaboration, learning, sharing and power sharing, ultimately.”
The Ichikowitz Family Foundation, which runs an annual survey on youth attitudes across Africa, included these themes in its latest research. The African Youth Survey gathers views from tens of thousands of young people in 25 countries. This year, it focused on the G20.
Its report found fast-eroding trust in democratic institutions and government accountability.
While young Africans once expected leaders to create jobs, solve the climate crisis and drive innovation, many now feel “the system is failing them”, the foundation’s chairman Ivor Ichikowitz told RFI.
The survey, he added, shows a polarised view of current leadership.
“On the extremely negative side, there are many respondents who are saying that they are frustrated with their governments and this plays out in what we’ve seen in Madagascar, what we’ve seen in Kenya, what we’ve seen in other countries in Africa,” Ichikowitz said. “This is not unexpected.”
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Young people push back
Events across the African continent over the past year form part of that picture – from the coup in Gabon to Gen Z protests in Madagascar and Morocco.
The unrest shows rising frustration among young people who now believe they must take control of their own futures, Ichikowitz said, adding: “They can’t rely only on governments.”
Climate change has also become a key issue, with deeper awareness of environmental concerns among respondents. There is strong frustration around this too.
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“There’s a realisation among the population that we surveyed that this is a reality that’s been created by the world’s most industrialised nations – and Africa is bearing the brunt of the consequences,” Ichikowitz said.
Young people believe Africa has the means to solve the problem, but they also know that protecting the environment will mean major sacrifices that could limit development and economic opportunities.
“Africa is not being compensated for this reality,” Ichikowitz added.
One message, Singh said, came through repeatedly in the Y20 working groups.
“Young people, in particular those from the Global South, are fatigued by the constant framing by policymakers and world leaders of them as a problem and something that needs to be fixed – as opposed to an asset that requires investment and planning.”