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ShareTweetShareShareShareEmailShareThe African Youth Survey 2020, a project of South Africa’s Ichikowitz Family Foundation, has revealed that many of the youth in South Africa are concerned about the country’s future and are showing a weakening trust in its democracy.
The inaugural survey, conducted by research and polling firm PSB Research, included 4200 young African men and women between the ages of 18 and 24 from 14 sub-Saharan countries, including South Africa, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Ghana and Ethiopia.
The survey revealed youth considered unemployment and corruption the top issues facing the nation. Fifty percent of the South African participants had a negative outlook on the future of the country, while the other half felt their communities were headed in the right direction.
Thirty percent of all respondents believed Africa was on the right track.
However, the survey found that the youth were more optimistic about their own futures, with 73% believing their standard of living was destined to improve over the next two years.
Thirty-one percent of participants felt that well-paid jobs would need to be addressed in the next five years, and 30% indicated access to basic services was one of the top policies that needed to be addressed. Twenty-three percent felt unemployment, and 14% corruption, were the top two issues facing the country.
Chairperson of the foundation, Ivor Ichikowitz, said the concerns of the youth should be an eye-opener for the government.
“The youth’s key concerns of unemployment and corruption, together with disappointing levels of entrepreneurship, is a wake-up call for the government and the private sector to expedite efforts to generate more job opportunities,” he said.
African News Agency (ANA)
