Journal of Socialomics

Abstract

The Quest for Youth Inclusion in the African Politics: Trends, Challenges, and Prospects

Mengistu MM

At the global level, there seems to be an understanding that youth are significant dividends of the global population, such that they need to be included in every decision-making process. They are also recognized as key agents of socio-economic and political movers of the society. Despite this fact, on the ground, youth are marginalized and excluded from the political and important decision making processes. This is truer in Africa than elsewhere in the world. Most politicians in Africa are failing to recognize this basic concern of the continent. Thus, the objective of this paper is to quest the youth inclusion in the African politics, which has been addressed by making a critical analysis on the trends, challenges, and prospects of youth participation in the political discourses of Africa. To address the objective of the study, secondary sources of data were utilized. After amassing all necessary data, qualitative methods of analysis in the forms of construction and interpretation were utilized to analyze and give a condensed picture of the study. Accordingly, the results of the study revealed that despite the fact that youth account the high proportion (seventy percent and more) of the African population, they are extremely excluded from socio-economic and political spheres. Though some legal protections and advocacies have been attempted by African countries, most of youth-related policies and programs are paper values. Hence, it is recommended that African countries should create enabling and youth-friendly environments that pave the way for an effective and meaningful youth political participations. Likewise, facilitating youth inclusion in the national and local electoral and consultation processes is another means for upgrading the level of political participation of youth. Finally, if the countries are not proactive towards their youth population, it may become a ticking political time bomb. Thus, young people should have a voice in their own future.