Though a sizable number of African youth have lost confidence in their own countries and the continent as a whole to meet their aspirations and consider travelling abroad, 56 per cent (56%} of the young people in Ghana believe Ghana is moving in the right direction.
According to a report by the African Youth Survey 2022, published by the Guardian on June 13, 2022, 15 countries were part of the survey including Ghana.
The pandemic, climate crisis, political instability and violence have all contributed to making young people “jittery” about their futures since the Covid pandemic began, according to the African Youth Survey published on Monday.
Only 32% of the 4,500 young people interviewed, aged 18-24, were optimistic about Africa’s prospects, according to the survey – a drop of 11% since the last survey of its kind published in early 2020.
But marry that with lack of access to water, marry that with a major concern around terrorism, and you’ve now got a demographic a group of people that are very jittery about the future of the continent, the survey indicated.
A very high percentage of the people in the response group are thinking about migration, according to the Guardian newspaper.
Notwithstanding these high numbers, 56% of Ghanaian youth interviewed in the survey said they would want to stay in the country as, in their estimation, there is hope for the country as the current leadership is doing all it could to make things work.
About 60% of Africa’s population is younger than 25, and more than a third is aged between 15–34 years old. By 2100, Africa will have the world’s youngest population with a median age of 35.
The African countries where the survey was conducted are Rwanda, Ghana, Uganda, Mozambique, Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, Congo Republic, Angola, Ethiopia, Sudan, Malawi, Kenya, Zambia and Nigeria.
