The Africa We want

Africa is the richest continent in the world. It is endowed with fresh waters, minerals, oil and gas, rich flora and fauna and beautiful people. We may not know what the Africa we want will be like in 2063 but we can work on things that we don’t want to see. The pre-colonial era (before 1963) Africa was busy dealing with struggles for independence, foreign supremacy and dominances, marginal ignorance and illiteracy, sicknesses and was basically operating in a survival mode. The post independent era brought a new Africa-Africans started to have freedoms, most countries gained independence, and ruthless policies like apartheid were defeated. We no longer had any new excuse, it was a new dawn for Africa-it was a bright morning for Africa to rise and make the best out of its endowments. The African Union Agenda 2063 is an aspiration of Africa premised on the above history; we needed to re-think and plan the Africa we want in the next 50 years. The Agenda will help us focus to deliver an Africa free from hunger, peaceful and secure, promote good governance and respect of right and rule of law, be united in our diversity, people driven Africa relying on the support women and youth while caring for the children.

Africa houses the largest youngest population in the world with over 200 Million young people spread across countries. Youth make up 80% of Uganda’s population which implies that they are major drivers of all the spheres and sectors of life ranging from social, economic, political to cultural spheres. It is therefore impossible to have the Africa we want-the golden sunrise of Africa without the Youth. There cannot be something for the young people without them! In light of the above, I discuss below the kind of Africa we want to not only see but have by 2063.
An all equal opportunity Africa: Africa celebrates diversity of tribes, cultures, peoples, gender and the sex, the young and the old, the boys and girls, persons with disabilities (PWDs), men and women, the haves and the have-nots. The Africa we want to see is one where all categories of people are recognized, respected and celebrated. For long, Africa has suffered from discrimination based on gender, tribe, and color among others. Aspiration 1 of the Agenda 2063 emphasizes an all-inclusive growth and sustainable development. Most African countries, including Uganda have gone ahead to sign up to the global agendas such as the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which are about ending poverty, inequality and climate change with the theme, leave no one behind. This simply means that in all our plans, policies and decisions we make as a country and a continent, we should ensure inclusiveness in all spheres of life. The first 10 year implementation plan of the Agenda 2063 sets poverty, inequality, hunger, social security and protection of PWDS among key priority areas. What we want to see by 2063 is zero hunger, zero inequality by countries taking an all-embracing approach that income is evenly distributed among the various categories of people and that the voices of the PWDs are heard and worked on for example that all buildings in Africa can accommodate the PWDs and employers are employing at least one PWD.

The girls have continued to drop off from schools due to teenage pregnancies, their reproductive health challenges and yet we are talking about inclusiveness. We need to empower the girl child to be able to compete favorably with the boy child in a bid to foster equity. I am looking forward to having in place an African Union Equal Opportunities Commission that will enforce equality within and among member states. We can only achieve a brighter Africa together.
Full youth participation in Politics, policy and decision making: Public participation is a facet for good governance, rule of law and democracy. Aspiration 3 of the Agenda 2063 provides for good governance, democracy, respect for human rights, justice and rule of law. Further, the African charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG) birthed the African Governance Architecture (AGA) which is a platform for dialogue between the various stakeholders who are mandated to promote good governance and strengthen democracy in Africa, in addition to translating the objectives of the legal and policy pronouncements in the AU Shared Values. This means that AU has done its best to put the structures in place so as to achieve rule of law, good governance and Justice.
The youth for some time have been left behind in politics. This has been done deliberately through legislations and ruthless state actions. In Uganda, a youth cannot stand for the elective position of the district chairperson simply because the Local Government Act puts an age cap at 3o which is towards the end of the youth age, this limits majority of youth to participate in the same. If an African youth who has graduated at 22years is not allowed to serve as a district chairperson, then we are far from participating in Politics. This law has to change so that youth are allowed to participate fully not only as voters but as candidates.
One of the flagship projects for the implementation of agenda 2063 is the establishment of an annual African forum which is to bring together, once a year, the African political leadership, the private sector, academia and civil society to discuss developments and constraints as well as measures to be taken to realize the Aspirations and goals of Agenda 2063. Where are the youth in this space? This flagship program is silent on participation of youth in the forum. The youth do not need to be participated but need to participate fully with their presence recognized. African governments have to let youth express their opinion and also participate in decision making processes. We have seen several crack down of artistes, media in East Africa (Bobi Wine for Uganda and media persons in Tanzania, youth led organizations in Zimbabwe, youth protesters in Sudan among others). This must stop and the voice of the youth must not only seem to be heard but seen if Africa is to bank on this future generation-leaders of today waiting for tomorrow’s opportunities.

Wealth Creation for Africans: One of the things that Africa suffers from is the looming Unemployment across the region. This is synonymous with bad governance and corruption-a government that is corrupt will not make wealth for its people. The primary role of any state is to make wealth for its citizens and safe guarding it too. For example, in South Africa alone, the unemployment rate increased to 27.2% and the number of the unemployed rose by 100,000 to 5.98 million compared to Uganda which moved to 2.10%. Zimbabwe has also suffered from unemployment of young people, lack of necessities like fuel, bread among others and this has left many people needy. According to Africa Development Bank, 12 Million young people entered the Africa’s labor force in 2015 but only 3.1 million jobs were created leaving many in dire poverty. In order to have a prosperous Africa as per Aspiration 1, countries have to put effort in production sectors such as Agriculture, investment in science and technology so as the young people can create wealth.

Countries must make it important to economically empower the young people and by so doing, one is empowering a nation, a continent and a globe at large. Africa must start a silicon valley of Africa where young people can innovate systems, products that they can sale to Africa and the world. For Example, the Ugandan youth who invented the malaria testing machine, the youths that made the first African car (Kiira Ev Motors) all these need to be supported so that they remain in Africa and work for Africa. We need to create jobs for youth as the unemployment is alarming. Countries must take steps to ensure job creation at all levels and in fact, as a matter of policy, the African Union should employ at least 50% young people putting into consideration the need for skills transfer, nurturing, mentoring and experience gathering.
Once youth are busy working, we shall avoid situations of them being recruited in extreme violent groups that take advantage of the idle and unemployed youth to cause instability in the continent as against aspiring for a peaceful and safe Africa.
Better Education system: One of the key flagship activities in the first 10 year implementation plan of the Agenda 2063 is to establish an African Virtual and E-University which will increase access to tertiary and continuing education in Africa by reaching large numbers of students and professionals in multiple sites simultaneously and developing relevant and high quality Open, Distance and eLearning (ODeL) resources to offer the prospective student a guaranteed access to the University from anywhere in the world and anytime (24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This is a welcome move to address tertiary education for Africans as most of the young people are not able to reach tertiary education because of the costs involved. What is not known is whether this University will be free of charge or applicants will have to pay a certain fee. We have to be careful with this so as we do not again block young people from accessing education.
Further, Africa as a continent needs to review its teaching curriculum to fit the modern day African problems. Most countries are still stuck with the colonial curriculum which does not help solve problems today. African states must now start re-design curricular that are useful for its people that are going to solve everyday problems such as science and innovation, social services among others. A well designed education system tailored to the needs of an African Society for example mineral exploration, agriculture, tourism among others should be key as they earn Africa lots of revenue. This too shall solve the unemployment challenge.

In conclusion, there can never be another Africa created for us by others-we create our own Africa that we desire and as such, we must seek African solutions for African problems as a priority. Member states should ensure domestication of the Agenda 2063 and its 10 year implantation plan within their policies, plans, laws and they should also adopt and sign in unto useful charters and protocol that promote the wellbeing of Africans. I am very optimistic about the dream we have-for a better Africa and we all have to work together especially with the young people to make this continent not only the Africa we want but the Africa others must need!

Written by:
MICHAEL ABONEKA
KAMPALA, UGANDA