It would be illuminating to know the percentage of voters in recent general elections across Africa who were first-time voters aged between 18 and 25. How well have we tapped this generation’s optimism and energy into political participation? The governance systems we ascribe to shape much of our individual outcomes, and we must participate meaningfully in fostering those systems. Indeed, political participation is foundational for democracy.

This generation is often typecast as passive and trifling. Rather than yield space for youthful talent, the establishment characteristically maligns them – the faceless many who juggle college with laborious jobs, cultivating skills of the future of their discipline; trailblazing talents who dazzle on and offstage, live off their talent and pave way for the next generation of talents through mentorship, and countless others whose accomplishments exemplify grit and determination.

It would be illuminating to know the percentage of voters in recent general elections across Africa who were first-time voters aged between 18 and 25. How well have we tapped this generation’s optimism and energy into political participation? The governance systems we ascribe to shape much of our individual outcomes, and we must participate meaningfully in fostering those systems. Indeed, political participation is foundational for democracy.

This generation is often typecast as passive and trifling. Rather than yield space for youthful talent, the establishment characteristically maligns them – the faceless many who juggle college with laborious jobs, cultivating skills of the future of their discipline; trailblazing talents who dazzle on and offstage, live off their talent and pave way for the next generation of talents through mentorship, and countless others whose accomplishments exemplify grit and determination.