Keypoints:
- Youth vote 18 points less than elders
- More likely to protest than older generations
- Report warns of engagement gap risks
AFRICAN youth are significantly less likely than older generations to take part in most political and civic activities – except for street protests – according to a new flagship report from Afrobarometer.
The analysis, based on 53,444 face-to-face interviews across 39 African countries between 2021 and 2023, reveals that young people aged 18-35 are voting at rates 18 percentage points lower than their elders. The research, covering more than three-quarters of the continent’s population, identifies persistent generational gaps across 10 indicators of citizen engagement.
Voting rates show the sharpest divide
According to the report the steepest disparity is in voter turnout, with Senegal, Cameroon and Zimbabwe showing the largest gaps – 29, 28 and 28 percentage points respectively.
In addition, youth are:
- 12 points less likely to attend community meetings
- 10 points less likely to contact traditional leaders
- 10 points less likely to contact local government councillors
- 8 points less likely to feel close to a political party
- 8 points less likely to join with others to raise an issue
Côte d’Ivoire tops community meeting gap
The attendance gap at community meetings is widest in Côte d’Ivoire at 28 points, followed by Zambia (26 points) and Botswana (24 points).
Direct engagement with local government officials also shows notable divides, with Lesotho (-24 points), Zambia (-20 points), Guinea (-16 points) and Kenya (-16 points) among the most pronounced.
Protests buck the trend
One area where youth participation exceeds that of their elders is protest. In Tunisia, young people are 17 points more likely to join demonstrations, followed by Sudan (+9 points) and São Tomé and Príncipe (+7 points). However, in 16 countries, protest participation rates differ by no more than one point between age groups.
Implications for Africa’s young democracies
Afrobarometer warns that if governments fail to create channels for meaningful engagement, Africa – the world’s youngest continent – risks alienating its largest demographic from formal politics.
The report, the second in an annual series on high-priority topics, is accompanied by country scorecards offering snapshots of citizen participation in each surveyed nation.
About Afrobarometer
Afrobarometer is a pan-African, non-partisan research network that has conducted nine survey rounds in up to 42 countries since 1999. National partners conduct interviews in respondents’ chosen language, with sample sizes ranging from 1,200 to 2,400 people per country. Results carry a margin of error between +/-2 and +/-3 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.
