Dear African Leaders,
ONE Campaign is a global campaigning and advocacy organisation backed by about nine million people from around the world who are committed to the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa.
We hold world leaders accountable for the promises they make to the poorest, and we encourage them to support better policies, more effective aid and trade reform. In addition, we work with leaders in Africa to champion greater democracy, accountability and transparency.
Your Excellencies, while much criticism has been leveled against the President of the United States, Donald Trump for his uninformed and unfortunate remarks about Africa, the current state of affairs leaves African citizens vulnerable to such callous attacks which strip Africans of their dignity and undermine the citizens’ efforts to develop the continent. Africa is sitting on a time bomb, unless the continent’s leaders start to create jobs and raise the livelihoods of citizens.
Approximately 70% of youth in sub-Saharan Africa live below the poverty line. One-third of Africa’s 420 million youth aged between 15-35, are unemployed. An estimated 10 million new jobs per year will have to be created until 2025 to absorb the new entrants into the labor force. The continent is full of young people with high hopes but who are deeply frustrated. Today, 53 million girls in Africa are not in school dis-empowering them, and negatively impacting their futures. For many Africans poverty is sexist and will remain so, reducing the energy and ambition of young girls to nothing.
ONE Campaign condemns the remarks by President Trump in the strongest possible terms. However, we turn our undivided attention to African leaders challenging them to take decisions that move Africa forward, and enable the continent to harness the benefit of the demographic dividend.
If African leaders invest now, the continent’s youth can drive economic growth and job creation that will benefit the continent. African could add $15 trillion to its economy over the next 30 years. Translating this potential will require investments in education, employment and empowerment, particularly for women and young people. If African leaders do not invest wisely, then Africa and the world will witness a destabilizing demographic shift with severe consequences for security and unprecedented regional and global poverty, validating ignorant utterances by outsiders such as President Trump.
Rudo Kwaramba-Kayombo
ONE Africa Executive Director
