On Youth Day (June 16th), the Ichikowitz Family Foundation is pleased to announce that the second edition of its African Youth Survey, the most comprehensive study of Africa’s youth to date, is today actively underway and being carried out across 15 African nations.
Commissioned by the Ichikowitz Foundation, a leading African foundation encouraging active citizenship across the continent, and undertaken by global polling company, PSB Insights (part of the WPP Group) the African Youth Survey 2021 will be conducting wide-ranging, face to face and in-depth interviews with 4,500 young people from across 45 cities and rural territories, in an effort to develop a better global understanding of one of the most important and often misunderstood demographics of the world.
With 60% of its population under the age of 25, Africa is today the youngest continent in the world. By the year 2030, young Africans are expected to make up 42% of the world’s youth, representative of nearly half of the planet’s human capital.
By the year 2050, that demographic is projected to double.
In step with its inaugural rendition, the African Youth Survey of 2021 will again be conducted within Congo Brazzaville, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa and Zambia, however this year, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mozambique, Sudan and Uganda will be new additions to the study.
Establishing itself as the pre-eminent source of data on African youth, the Survey will offer global audiences each year with a scientific and representative sample across Southern, Central, East and West Africa, allowing for the tracking and benchmarking of attitudes and behaviours over time.
The ultimate mission of the Foundation’s Survey is to cover all 54 African countries, with new nations to be added year on year.
The African Youth Survey 2021 will investigate and spotlight the views, hopes and aspirations of the continent’s young people on the most pressing, contemporary issues that they face. Topics will range from the impact and legacy of COVID-19 to climate change, the embrace of the digital revolution and the rise of e-commerce; from perspectives on maintaining stability against threats to security, to migration and refugee issues; from appreciation for democracy to community tolerance; from addressing corruption to fostering a climate for entrepreneurism and innovation to thrive; from opinions on the economic potential of the newly-formed African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to perceptions of foreign influencers, such as China, France and the Biden Administration of the U.S.
Ivor Ichikowitz, African industrialist, philanthropist and Chairman of the Ichikowitz Foundation, stated that, “We are excited to announce the launch of our 2021 African Youth Survey, exploring the contemporary opinions, concerns, ambitions and attitudes of Africa’s young people. While this demographic will comprise our future decision-makers, business leaders and the politicians of Africa respectively, our 2020 study indicated a unity unlike any findings previously disclosed; a shared belief in an African identity and an optimism for a better future ahead, one that they themselves are prepared to create. This is a generation that demands the opportunity that access and inclusivity will broker and they are no longer waiting on the sidelines for others to save them and make this scenario a reality”.
“We are however very intrigued to learn and report on exactly how unprecedented events such as COVID-19, increased civil strife within the Sahel to Mozambique, and the escalating ramifications of climate change will impact this year’s Survey and compare to the overwhelming ‘Afro-Optimism’ and confidence in Africa’s trajectory on display in our 2020 study.”
“On Youth Day, South Africans pay tribute to the lives of the students of the Soweto Uprising while further recognising the role of young people in the liberation of South Africa from the genesis of apartheid. Today, while we continue to acknowledge the fragility of our own democracy, of which our 2020 Survey emblemized, we must also celebrate not only our country but our continent’s young people’s achievements. Our Study proudly serves as a bellwether for this, the world’s largest collective marketplace and chief proponent of Africa’s steady developmental trajectory which is now appreciated on a global scale”.
Over the span of one year and despite the world enduring the constraints of the COVID-19 pandemic, the inaugural African Youth Survey of 2020 garnered billions of global media impressions from its launch. On May 27th, the Ichikowitz Foundation received two prestigious SABRE Awards for exceptional branding, reputation, and engagement pertaining to its international campaign to raise awareness of the findings of its African Youth Survey in 2020.
The SABRE Awards are recognized as the world’s largest Public Relations awards programme, dedicated for more than 20 years to benchmarking and commemorating the best campaigns from across the globe.
Ichikowitz added: “Despite the constraints of the COVID-19 virus and with all associated social distancing precautions firmly in place, we are uncompromising in our responsibility in reporting on the thought leadership of our next generation, this year no doubt undertaken against myriad adversities”.
“The African Youth Survey’s findings ultimately serve as powerful resources in informing policy decisions, good public governance, effective investment decision-making and corporate social responsibility. We will each year look forward to showing the world what Africa’s next generation will offer, as we plan to administer the Survey on an annual basis for the foreseeable future,” he concluded.
