ON the backdrop of increased fighting across Mozambique’s North between government forces and ISIL-linked terrorist groups, coupled with continued insurgency throughout Lake Chad and West Africa’s Sahel, a recent multinational study indicates that Africa’s youth sees terrorism as one of the biggest threats facing the future of the continent.
More than seven in ten (71 percent) report concerns about terrorism, findings from the inaugural African Youth Survey reveal, with the majority polled across the continent suggesting it had the second biggest impact on the development of Africa over the last five years.
Nearly 30 percent of young people identified ‘fighting terrorism’ and ‘achieving peace and stability’ as the most important issues that require urgent action for the African continent to progress and move forward. Alarmingly however, nearly 10 percent have already been approached or know someone who has been approached or even recruited by terrorist organisations.
The African Youth Survey 2020, the most comprehensive survey of Africa’s youth, commissioned by the Ichikowitz Family Foundation, polled 4,200 participants (aged 18-24) from across 14 sub-Saharan African countries, including Congo Brazzaville, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Togo, Zambia and Zimbabwe; carried out to develop foundations for a better global understanding of a demographic that is all too often misunderstood.
Key findings include:
71 percent of youth overall are concerned (51 percent of youth were ‘very concerned’) about terrorism – in Mali this figure spikes to 99 percent, in Kenya to 89 percent and in Ethiopia and Nigeria, to 86 percent. In Ghana, 85 percent voiced concern;
More than half (55 percent) of all respondents worry about the safety and security of their families and themselves;
A majority of 55 percent of Nigerian youth are confident in their government’s ability to counter the threat posed by Boko Haram; 69 percent however say the terror organization affects their daily lives;
63 percent of young Kenyans are concerned about instability in nearby South Sudan and Somalia; and…
One in five (21 percent) say war and conflict will have the biggest impact on Africa’s shared identity over the next five years
The greatest concern about terrorism was concentrated in East (78 percent) and West African (76 percent) countries. In Southern Africa, 66 percent of youth were concerned. The rise of terrorism (15 percent) was identified as the event that had the second biggest impact on Africa in the last five years; in first place was ‘deaths from infectious diseases’ (24 percent).
Looking ahead to the next five years, concerns of terrorism are viewed as the sixth-biggest issue facing the continent, with corruption and job creation viewed as the most pressing issues that must be addressed to move the continent forward. When asked about which issues are young people most concerned about in their country today, terrorism drops to the ninth position; unemployment and corruption remain the top issues wherein young people are presently the most concerned.
In an effort to offer greater insight on how individuals – especially young people – are co-opted into terror organisations, the African Youth Survey pointedly included questions on association with extremist networks.
Respondents were asked if they or anyone they knew were ever approached by a terror network. While eight in ten overall reported that they have never been approached by or associated with such groups, a sizable number of participants responded that they ‘did not know’ or ‘chose not to answer.’
Specifically:
3 percent – ‘I know someone who has been approached by a t…
