Africa has the youngest population in the world, with 70% of sub-Saharan Africa's population under the age of 30. AFP met with young people across the continent to speak to them about their hopes and fears for the future.
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00:00I want to remember for inspiring a generation of young people to dream in differently.
00:16Young people are now politically awake.
00:30Young people are now politically awake.
00:41With my degree in Biology, Civil and Geosciences, I aspire to be a biologist in the future.
00:46Participating in the discovery of new drugs to fight against diseases in Africa.
00:56I am involved in many environmental initiatives
00:59with my school of environmental law.
01:01We are trying to have a positive impact on our youth,
01:04as well as everywhere in Senegal.
01:10I work on the theme of developing innovative solutions
01:14to fight against bacterial fertilization and agricultural subcultures in Ivory Coast.
01:23I've engaged myself in a couple of social impact projects
01:26where I founded Students on LinkedIn and Transgenso.
01:29That was born from a desire to help equip students like me
01:33and young professionals.
01:35Help them build capacity around professional development.
01:45So I chose to study Environmental Studies at the University of the Vertuvatosrand
01:49because I believe that the environment needs people who actually care about it
01:53in order for them to make the decisions surrounding their environment.
01:57What are your ambitions?
02:02My ambitions?
02:04I'm still trying to build them up
02:08because in architecture you have to first identify the problems of society.
02:21I have an ambition to become an MP
02:24and to effectively showcase that young people can affect changes
02:33in the way this country is running.
02:41I fell in love with Social Sciences
02:44because I'd love to further enhance my understanding
02:49in relation to working with communities.
02:54What challenges do you face?
02:59It seems like we have certain systemic issues
03:02that are frustrating the efforts of people trying to build the country.
03:05It seems like as much as we are building, some people are bringing it down.
03:09As much as we are putting in effort, we are not making progress.
03:15A major challenge is electricity.
03:23We have a lot of power cuts here in Béjaïville.
03:27So we often forget to adapt.
03:32Young people in Cameroon are in a state of despair.
03:37The proof is that a lot of them end up in the neighbourhoods.
03:45A lot of them end up doing anything.
03:50They are not engaged.
03:53They have no hope in Cameroon.
03:58I don't think that the voice of our generation is taken into consideration at the current moment.
04:03A lot of the political space is infiltrated with older people
04:08and our generation isn't really represented.
04:11What is the biggest challenge for you?
04:16What is the biggest challenge for me in the country
04:19is to see our young people end up in clandestine immigration
04:22instead of staying in an invested country.
04:24This phenomenon is becoming more and more unbearable.
04:30What makes me angry about my country
04:33is the current regime
04:36that has many and numerous times
04:42showed its brutality against the young people.
04:48What is your hope for your country?
04:55My hope for my country is that
04:58the unemployment rate will decrease,
05:02that the quality of life will increase,
05:04that it will be much better.
05:09My dream is to see Ivory Coast
05:14as an exemplary country.
05:21My wish is that this image will be really promoted.
05:26Young people in Kenya are now rising up,
05:29they are now uniting across all political divide,
05:34across all the ethnic groups.
05:38I am very proud to see that with the new regime,
05:41the inclusion of young people in our institutions is a good thing.
05:49So the change that I'd like to bring is to ensure that
05:52the youth's voice is heard in every single decision-making process that is made.
05:56So this will look like having more young people within parliaments,
06:00having more young people within the NGO spaces,
06:03and having more young people within leadership of the country.
06:12I'm looking forward to a country where everybody is respected,
06:16where everybody can achieve a decent future for themselves,
06:19where everybody can live a decent life,
06:21where there's peace, where there's prosperity.
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