We must harness energy of Africa’s ‘youthquake’

Youth unemployment and under-employment across Africa is a tragic missed opportunity for the continent and the world. One million young Africans enter the workforce every month, but only one in four finds a formal sector job. Their world is one of limited jobs, few skills, and little hope.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) last month warned of an imminent “youthquake” across Africa if job creation and employment did not improve quickly and dramatically. The recent protests in Kenya were a reminder — if any were needed — that young people are frustrated by the lack of opportunities to get ahead.

Africa has the youngest population in the world, with a median age of 19 years. By 2050, one in three people under the age of 25 will live on the continent, and ILO estimates that 72.6 million new jobs will be needed for them. No issue is more critical for social justice, for economic and political stability across Africa, and for the future of the global economy.

We know the youthquake is coming. The question is whether we can harness that energy and transform it into a positive force for good.

Africa has made huge strides in education. In most countries, secondary education is both compulsory and free. University enrolment has surged. At the University of Nairobi, I see so much energy and potential. This is the best-educated generation Kenya has ever had. Yet college graduates struggle to find employment.

The issue is not just a shortage of suitable jobs. Employers complain that young people are graduating without the real-world skills they need to join the workforce. In fact, 70 per cent of businesses in Kenya say they struggle to fill vacancies because job applicants lack effective communication, critical thinking, teamwork, or time management skills.

Centres of excellence in education

As educators, this counts as a big fail. We are failing to prepare our students for the real world and we are failing their countries. Our students come to us with high expectations of what a university degree will do for their prospects. It is our responsibility to fulfil those hopes and also anticipate the needs of the economy and society in a fast-changing world. A university degree must be a ticket to a fulfilling professional career. With the right focus and resources, there is no reason why universities should not be able to deliver on this promise.

At the University of Nairobi, we have listened to our students and to what employers are telling us and we are embarking on a transformative journey to make higher education a gateway to the careers of the 21st century. Our plan is based on five big initiatives: an innovation park, a green jobs centre, a school of artificial intelligence (AI), an advanced health research institute, and a leadership institute.

Taken together, these Big Five will modernise the curriculum, elevate our research capabilities and forge partnerships with industry, entrepreneurs and other global centres of excellence in education. The plan builds on our strengths, but marks a steep change in our trajectory. We believe this is a transformative agenda not only for our own university, but also for Kenya and perhaps even Africa as a whole.

To help our students understand the forces shaping their world, our university will introduce mandatory courses in leadership, AI and climate change. To prepare them for the world of work, we are broadening our ties to industry to expand the number of placements and internships we can offer.

For our faculty, the Big Five agenda will allow them to make full use of their talents and expertise — with more funding and better infrastructure to conduct research, closer ties to industry, and exchange programmes with other centres of academic excellence. 
Nairobi is already a hub for entrepreneurship and Kenya is one of the top four markets in Africa for venture capital. Some 800 start-ups have raised more than $5 billion in funding over the past 10 years.

Science and innovation

The university plans to establish an innovation park to bring academia closer to this thriving ecosystem. Kenya is also uniquely positioned for green economic growth, and the university can and must play its part by imparting the knowledge and skills needed for green transition and increasing green jobs by partnering with industry.

Our medical school will also receive the resources it needs to double its research capacity, and as a final initiative, we hope to establish a leadership institute to respond to the need for better governance across the public and private sectors. At present, we hardly train leaders in Africa. Those who can afford it attend European and American schools. We need to develop a uniquely African perspective on leadership, just as we need to develop African science and innovation, and ways of solving problems and looking at the world.
Partnerships

Some international and domestic partners are already backing our vision. The French Agency for Development is financing a new engineering and science complex and our engineering faculties are forging strong links with CentraleSupélec, one of the most prestigious grandes écoles in France. Elgon Kenya, an agrochemicals manufacturer, is building a new centre for technology and innovation in agriculture to help students bring their ideas and innovations to commercial scale.

But given domestic fiscal constraints, we must be innovative, rethink traditional government-led funding models and expand the opportunities for public-private partnerships. We also need more resources to fund more scholarships and make education the true leveller it should be. Our hope is that with more knowledge and industry partners, philanthropic foundations, and donors, we will be able to deliver the education that new generations of Kenyans deserve and that the region needs. 

Nelson Mandela told us that “It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mine worker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farm workers can become the president of a great nation. It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another”. Given the right opportunities, I am sure our young generations can achieve so much more.

Prof Verkooijen is the chancellor of the University of Nairobi and Ban Ki-moon chair on climate adaptation governance at the University of Groningen