Ecology: A young continent…but!

Mohamed Ahmed Al Feelabi

When you say that 15 percent of the world’s population contributes to less than 3 percent of the world’s gross product, you inevitably mean the people of the black continent, where the dark jungles and regions are shackled by the shackles of underdevelopment and bloody internal conflicts. This is what has been prevalent in Africa, despite the recognition that it is promising in the field of development and investment thanks to its natural resources, and that it is the incubator for the largest number of young people who can work.

Sudanese researcher Bakri Al-Jack mentions: “In Africa, there is an equivalent of 12 million educated youth who enter the labor market annually, while the labor markets in the continent do not provide more than three million job opportunities, according to a World Bank study for 2022, and this happens under the condition of an unprecedented economic recession, as the number of unemployed youth is estimated at 33 percent, according to international organizations, with a complete absence of any prospects for the future.

However, some hold that the continent has a promising and tangible space of hope ahead, that it is the “continent of the future”, and that “youth and nature are the most important promises of the future in Africa,” as Jake Bright and Aubrey Roby titled their book, which was published by the “Thomas Dunn” Foundation in New York in 2016, to show us an optimistic picture for future Africa.

choked the Nile

This was agreed by the economic analyst and World Bank expert, Ian Solomon, who describes Africa as “a continent whose difficult challenges are as diverse as the promising opportunities, and as diverse as the peoples who still see it as a home in which they live.”

Africa faces great challenges represented in high levels of unemployment, lack of services, and lack of infrastructure, in addition to its low contribution to global output, referring to its formation of 3 percent of Google site visits, less than 3 percent of global trade activity, and less than 3 percent of global trade activity and mobile phone subscriptions, less than 3 percent of privately held securities activities globally, and with basic services and utility gaps, with less than 32 percent of its population enjoying a regular supply of electricity, and only a quarter of the population has bank accounts, and many countries lack road networks.

On the other hand, the rates of population increase in Africa are the fastest compared with the continents of the world, as well as the fastest in the field of urban transformation, the transformation of lifestyles and livelihoods, and stability and production, jungles, valleys, and forests, to capitals, cities, and suburbs. Among these images and perceptions, hope remains for a bright future for the young continent.

Environmental Specialist