Gen Z Protests Expose Africa’s Demographic Time Bomb, Says PAP President Charumbira

Pan-African Parliament (PAP) President H.E. Chief Fortune Charumbira has warned that Africa’s persistent neglect of its young population could soon explode into a full-blown human-rights and governance crisis, describing the continent’s growing youth unrest as a “demographic time bomb” that leaders ignore at their peril.

Speaking virtually at the opening of the 85th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) in Banjul, Chief Charumbira drew a stark link between the continent’s developmental and human-rights challenges and the wave of Gen Z-led protests sweeping across Africa and beyond.

“If we do not resolve these challenges, we will not solve the human-rights and developmental issues affecting Africa,” he said, urging African Union institutions to ensure that “the African human-rights architecture is inclusive and does not leave out the youth and women.”

Youth Anger and the Eruption of a Global Trend

Citing the recent military takeover in Madagascar, which followed days of youth-driven demonstrations, the PAP President said the continent must take heed of warning signs already visible in other regions. He referenced similar uprisings in Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Morocco, where disillusioned young people have mobilized online to challenge entrenched leaderships and economic hardship.

In North Africa, he noted, the “Gen Z 212” movement in Morocco symbolizes youth frustration with governance priorities that favour spectacle over substance. “They are critical of the Moroccan government’s priorities, faulting authorities for investments in sports infrastructure which they say overshadow healthcare and education.”

Africa’s Ticking Demographic Clock

Charumbira warned that Africa’s demographic dynamics heighten the risk of similar unrest.
With over 60 percent of Africans under 25, and the youth population projected to grow by more than 180 percent before the end of the century, the continent faces what he called a “youth bulge without economic growth.”

“The explosion in the youth population is not synonymous with a growth in Africa’s economies,” he said. “By 2030, 30 million youth will enter the labour market every year, but only 3 million jobs are being created.”

In South Africa, for instance, 55 percent of young people are jobless, a figure he cited to illustrate the widening gap between population growth and opportunity. The Mo Ibrahim Foundation and UN data, he added, show that Africa could soon have twice Europe’s entire population in youth alone.

Human Rights and Development: Two Sides of the Same Coin

The PAP President insisted that economic disenfranchisement and human-rights violations are inseparable. When young people lose faith in governance, he argued, the entire democratic and human-rights edifice begins to crumble.

“Human rights must be inclusive, equitable and just. Nothing for the youth without the youth,” he declared, stressing that silencing the guns on the continent is impossible without addressing the socio-economic roots of frustration.

He lamented that despite the AU’s 2020 commitment to “Silencing the Guns”, the continent continues to witness coups and violent instability, a sign that Africa’s governance and rights systems must adapt to the realities of a connected, impatient generation.

Strengthening Institutional Synergy for Human Rights

Reaffirming PAP’s support for the Banjul Commission, Charumbira pledged deeper collaboration with the ACHPR to advance legislative advocacy, oversight, and the domestication of continental human-rights instruments across Member States.
He stressed that Africa’s quest for peace and development “cannot succeed without respect for human dignity, the rule of law and protection of the most vulnerable.”

“There can be no meaningful development, peace, or integration without human dignity,” he said. “The Pan-African Parliament stands in full solidarity with the African Commission in its mission to safeguard the rights of our people.”

Charumbira’s warning resonates at a time when unemployment, economic inequality, and governance deficits threaten to undermine Africa’s democratic gains. His message that youth inclusion is not charity but survival reframes the human-rights debate around the continent’s most urgent fault line: the restless, digitally-mobilized Generation Z.

As the ACHPR’s 85th Session continues in Banjul under the theme of defending and expanding human rights in Africa, the Pan-African Parliament’s intervention serves as a timely reminder that the future of African democracy depends on whether its institutions can turn demographic pressure into democratic renewal.