– Yet Majority Polled Have Yet To Realize Its Potential
On the heels of Africa Day and the conclusion of Africa Month (May 2023), the Ichikowitz Foundation’s globally celebrated African Youth Survey reports that nearly half (46%) of the continent’s young people have never heard about the historic, recently-declared African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), as originally brokered by the African Union (AU) in 2018.
Despite the low awareness of AfCFTA, there is an appetite for African economic cooperation. Among those who are aware of AfCFTA, the majority (55%) of respondents say the free trade area will have a decidedly positive impact on their country, the expansive study of Africans between the ages of 18-24 found.
Realizing these hopes depends on African nations’ ability to capitalize on the new trade zone, according to the Ichikowitz Family Foundation.
Just over one-in-five young Africans (22%) indicated that they are very or somewhat familiar with AfCFTA, one-in-five are skeptical about AfCFTA making a difference in their country’s economic situation, while 15% suspect it will in fact make matters worse, the Africa Youth Survey found.
“During Africa Month and amid ongoing, seismically shifting geopolitical partnerships and conflicts which have massive implications on our African economies, our leaders present and future are quickly coming to the realization that we must look inward for economic opportunity; inward to fuel the entrepreneurial prowess which will catapult our start-up continent forward; and inward also to address the lingering challenges which continue to motivate our brightest and best to leave our shores,” Ichikowitz Family Foundation Chairman, Ivor Ichikowitz stated.
Other key findings include:
· The three countries with the highest levels of current support for the AfCTFA among young people are Rwanda (84%), Ghana (72%), and Mali (70%).
· The countries where youth are most inclined to suspect the AfCTFA will have a negative effect are Sudan (24%), the Democratic Republic of Congo (23%), Congo-Brazzaville (21%), and Zambia (21%).
· Only 17% of respondents knew of the new trade zone by name – More than six-in-ten young Africans in Sudan and South Africa had never heard of it altogether.
Comprising less than three percent of world trade in 2023, Africa’s substantial room for growth begins with intra-continental investment, economic experts agree. The AfCFTA project aims to dramatically ease conditions for commerce between Africa’s 55 nations, eliminating barriers and increasing trade, which is projected to have enormous impact on the continent, its 1.3 billion citizens and estimated $3.4 trillion GDP, the African Union asserts.
If fully implemented, the Pan-African pact could raise incomes by 9 percent by 2035 and lift 50 million people out of extreme poverty in the process.
The African Youth Survey also reflects strong support among the continent’s rising generation for free enterprise. An astounding 78% of respondents say they plan to open their own business in the next five years.
While 44% of respondents have suggested that they have considered emigrating in order to pursue better economic opportunities in other countries, the AfCTFA could change this picture once its full effects are seen, supporters – including the United Nations – of the agreement have speculated.
“From what we have learned through this poll, future African business leaders will put the meat on the bones of the African Continental Free Trade Area once awareness of the pact and the advantages it offers African economies becomes better known. The findings on African youth awareness of AfCFTA, together with greater public education, will bolster our next generation’s recognition of all it affords them, and will ensure that Africa is on the right track when it comes to putting in place the conditions for more robust trade between ourselves,” Ichikowitz added.
Originally administered in 2019, the African Youth Survey is a first-of-its kind, in-depth exploration of how young people on the fastest-growing continent on earth view themselves and the world around them. The latest poll was administered to 4,500 young African men and women across the major urban and rural centers of Angola, Congo Brazzaville, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, Uganda, and Zambia by leading global polling firm PSB Insight.
From its inception, the African Youth Survey has since become an authoritative source for understanding the opinions of Africa’s rising generation.