Twenty years ago, African leaders adopted the African Youth Charter, recognizing young people as essential partners in the continent’s development. Two decades later, we must ask ourselves a difficult question: Have we created opportunities for all young Africans, or mainly for those who already had a chance?
I have been asking myself a similar question since 2012, when I was working as Communications Manager for MPD Congo, a mining company exploring the Zanaga iron ore deposit in the Republic of Congo.
During a recruitment exercise for manual workers, something troubled me deeply: not a single Indigenous person from the district of Bambama was recruited. At the time, no one from the local Indigenous communities had completed secondary school.
I kept wondering how a community could benefit from economic development taking place in its own region when its children had so few opportunities to receive an education.
That experience led me to establish Espace Opoko in 2012. We started by supporting just ten Indigenous children. In 2016, we celebrated the first secondary school graduates from these communities. Today, our programme supports more than 1,600 students, from primary school to university.
Over the years, I have learned that exclusion is not always about a lack of talent or ambition. Sometimes, a child simply lives too far from the nearest secondary school. Sometimes, a family cannot afford school supplies or accommodation. Some children do not even have birth certificates.
I think of Clèche Sagesse Bambama Tsiba, a young Indigenous woman who, thanks to our programme, became the first Indigenous girl from the district of Bambama to earn her secondary school diploma. Today, she is attending university. She also became the first girl from her community to serve in the Children’s Parliament. Her journey shows what becomes possible when young people who have long been denied opportunities are finally given the support they need to fulfil their potential.
Africa has made progress since the Charter was adopted in 2006. More young people are accessing education, starting businesses and making their voices heard. Yet many remain excluded, particularly in rural and marginalized communities.
My participation in the MINDS African Youth Dialogue in Tanzania in 2016 strengthened my belief that young Africans should not simply be beneficiaries of development. They must also participate in decisions and help shape the future of their communities.
For the next twenty years, I believe we should focus on three priorities.
First, African governments must identify the communities that remain excluded from education and employment opportunities. National progress means little if entire communities are still being left behind.
Second, we must remove the practical barriers that prevent children from completing their education. Building schools matters, but so do accommodation, transportation, birth registration and support for families.
Third, we need greater collaboration across Africa. At Espace Opoko, we have begun extending our work to Madagascar. Our intention is not to copy what we have done in Congo, but to listen to local communities and adapt our experience to their needs.
In 2046, when we celebrate forty years of the African Youth Charter, I hope we will measure progress differently. Not only by the number of policies adopted or conferences organized, but by the number of young people who once had no opportunity and are now studying, working and contributing to their communities.
Africa cannot build its future while leaving part of its youth behind.
