Urban youth in Africa

MARC SOMMERS

Dr Marc Sommers is a ABSTRACT  It is widely assumed that most Africans reside in rural areas, that
Jennings Randolph Senior African cities make little economic sense and are unusually violent because so
Fellow at the United States
many unemployed young men live there, and that urban migrant youth can
Institute of Peace; he is
also a Research Fellow at be drawn back to their former rural homes. This paper challenges all of these
Boston University’s African assumptions. In the process, it reviews dominant trends in Africa’s rapid urban
Studies Centre and a expansion and examines what life is like for urban youth. I will argue that
consultant who regularly African cities are underserved and fiercely competitive economic environments
works on youth concerns.
that are negatively impacted by neoliberal development policies. Urban youth
Address: African Studies life tends to take place in worlds that are largely separate from the rest of society.
Centre, Boston University, The pressures and dangers facing male and female youth can be extreme, yet at
232 Bay State Road, Boston,
MA 02215, USA; e-mail:
the same time African cities are exceptionally stimulating places that provide
[email protected] opportunities for re-invention for many urban youth. The paper ends with
Acknowledgement: This
recommendations for addressing the needs of the marginalized majority of
paper is a significantly Africa’s urban youth more effectively. Its primary focus is urban areas in the
revised and updated version region of sub-Saharan Africa.
of a longer document
produced for the United
Nations Children’s Fund
KEYWORDS  Africa / conflict / employment / exclusion / gender / neoliberal /
(UNICEF) entitled Africa’s urban / youth
Young Urbanites: Challenging
Realities in a Changing
Region. It has been edited for
inclusion here with UNICEF’s I. INTRODUCTION
permission. I would like to
thank UNICEF, particularly African cities have perplexed and dismayed many visitors and scholars.
Mima Perisic, Victor P Simone claims that African cities “…don’t work” and that for many urban
Karunan, Naseem Awl and
Kimberly Gamble-Payne, residents “…life is reduced to a state of emergency.”(1) Ritner, writing at the
and acknowledge at the dawn of the independence era, stated that African cities “…work, but they
same time that the views
work for decay instead of growth.”(2) Hope contends that African cities make
expressed in this paper
are solely mine and do not no sense in economic terms, as they are more urbanized than their level
reflect UNICEF’s positions. of economic development would justify.(3) El-Kenz sees these cities as “…
I also owe thanks and cruel” and offering a “…disconcerting” anonymity.(4) Kaplan describes West
appreciation to Regina T African cities as “…high density concentrations of human beings who have
Wilson for contributing
significantly to the document been divested of certain stabilizing cultural models, with no strong governmental
research for this publication. institutions or communities to compensate for the loss.”(5)
Ms Wilson received her Many observers comment in particular on urban youth. Kaplan
Master of Arts in Law and
Diplomacy from The Fletcher describes the large numbers of out of school unemployed male youth
School, Tufts University, and as “…loose molecules in an unstable social fluid that threatened to ignite.”(6)
is currently a consultant at Shoumatoff writes of “…detribalized young men, lost souls wandering in the
the World Bank, working
on conflict and governance vast space between the traditional and the modern worlds … howling in the
issues in the Africa region. streets of downtown Nairobi in the middle of the night.”(7) El-Kenz notes their
Environment & Urbanization Copyright © 2010 International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). 317
Vol 22(2): 317–332. DOI: 10.1177/0956247810377964  www.sagepublications.com
E N V I R O N M E N T & U R B A N I Z AT I O N Vol 22 No 2 October 2010

“…anger, a sense of hurt, and revolt…” and surmises that: “It is a small step 1. Simone, Abdou Maliq (2004a),
For the City Yet to Come:
from the culture of violence to its actual practice.”(8) Changing African Life in Four
Given these collective views, it is small wonder that many Cities, Duke University Press,
international agencies focus their attention on Africa’s villages instead of Durham and London, pages 1
and 4.
its cities. Yet there is an irony in this broad institutional tendency: while
2. Ritner, Peter (1960), The
investments flow largely into rural Africa, ever more of its residents are
Death of Africa, Macmillan,
heading to the cities. Most of these urban migrants are youth, and they New York, page 18.
are the active agents of sub-Saharan Africa’s radical transformation from 3. Hope Sr, Kempe Ronald
a mainly rural to a predominantly urban region. African youth stand far (1998), “Urbanization and urban
ahead of nearly all government and non-government institutions in their growth in Africa”, Journal of
Asian and African Studies
urban orientation, and not just those living in cities and towns; in their Vol 33, No 4, pages 345–358,
clothes, their interests, their slang, many if not most village youth are page 356.
leaning towards cities as well. 4. El-Kenz, Ali (1996), “Youth
The authors cited above are linked by their limited interaction with the and violence”, in Stephen Ellis
(editor), Africa Now: People,
very urban youth about whom they are so concerned. Field research with Policies and Institutions,
African urban youth reveals that, while most urban youth in Africa are James Currey, London, and
certainly poor and many are struggling, their lives are not characterized by Heinemann, Portsmouth, NH,
page 16.
enveloping disaster. Life in town is tough and sometimes threatening. But
cities are hardly “black holes”; they also provide youth with opportunities, 5. Kaplan, Robert D (1996), The
Ends of the Earth: A Journey at
attractions and possible trajectories that are simply not available in rural the Dawn of the 21st Century,
areas. Through youth’s eyes, the anonymity of city life is not a threat but Random House, New York,
a resource: cities are places where they can throw off (or at least delay) page 29.
adulthood expectations and reinvent themselves. Surviving in cities is hardly 6. See reference 5, page 16.
easy, but if you “make it” there’s a chance to assume a glow of success that 7. Shoumatoff, Alex (1988),
African Madness, Alfred A
may be forever out of reach in home villages. Knopf, New York, page xiv.
Understanding why youth are in cities and how they strive to 8. See reference 4, pages 54
survive and hopefully succeed there is essential to engaging successfully and 55.
with them and providing them with effective support. It is also critical
to successful development in the region. Yet documentation on many
vital dimensions of sub-Saharan African urban life is thin,(9) and the 9. Myers, Garth Andrew (2005),
Disposable Cities: Garbage,
lack of data on urban youth in sub-Saharan Africa, and adolescents in Governance and Sustainable
particular, is still more serious despite the fact that approximately one Development in Urban Africa,
in four Africans is between 10 and 19 years old.(10) The absence of data is Ashgate, Burlington, VT, and
Hampshire, UK, page 4.
compounded by some prevailing assumptions that hinder the ability to
10. Montgomery, Mark R,
accurately grasp and appropriately respond to the rapid urbanization and Richard Stren, Barney Cohen
youthful demographics of Africa. These assumptions are that: and Holly E Reed (editors)
(2003), Cities Transformed:
• Africa is a rural-based continent; Demographic Change and its
• African cities make little economic sense; Implications in the Developing
World, National Academies
• the dense concentrations of unemployed young men make African
Press, Washington DC,
cities unusually violent places; and page 247.
• young urban migrants can be drawn back to their rural homes of
origin.
This paper challenges these assumptions, at the same time describing
some of the dominant trends and contours of Africa’s urbanization and
exploring what it’s like to be a young person between the ages of 10 and
24 in a big African city.

II. URBANIZATION AND URBAN TRENDS IN AFRICA

The urbanization of the world has been astoundingly rapid. In 1900, 13
per cent of all people lived in cities; by 1950, the proportion had increased

318
 URBAN YOUTH IN AFRICA

11. United Nations (2006), World to 29 per cent; in 2005, nearly half of all humans lived in urban areas
Urbanization Prospects: The (49 per cent); and by 2030, it is estimated that 60 per cent of the world’s
2005 Revision, United Nations
Department of Economic population will reside in cities.(11) Sub-Saharan Africa, currently one of the least
and Social Affairs, Population urbanized regions in the world, is urbanizing faster than any other.(12) Caraël
Division, New York, page 1. and Glynn point out that “… urban populations of sub-Saharan Africa have
12. Tostensen, Arne, Inge increased by 600 per cent in the last 35 years: a growth rate which has no
Tvedten and Mariken Vaa
(2001), “The urban crisis, precedent in human history.”(13) By 2030, 51 per cent of Africans will live
governance and associational in urban areas, and urbanization rates in East and Southern Africa have
life”, in Arne Tostensen, Inge
led the world for almost 50 years.(14) Conflict-affected countries have
Tvedten and Mariken Vaa
(editors), Associational Life particularly strong urban growth rates(15) and increasing numbers of
in African Cities: Popular refugees are shifting from camps and settlements to cities – even though
Responses to the Urban Crisis,
Nordiska Afrikainstitutet (Nordic
such movements are illegal.(16)
Africa Institute), Uppsala, Most of the residents of Africa’s burgeoning cities live in slums,
page 8. lacking even rudimentary services. According to UNFPA:
13. Caraël, Michel and Judith R
Glynn (2008), “HIV infection in “In sub-Saharan Africa, urbanization has become virtually synony-
young adults in Africa: context, mous with slum growth; 72 per cent of the region’s urban population
risks and opportunities for lives under slum conditions, compared to 56 per cent in South Asia.
prevention”, in Michel Caraël
and Judith R Glynn (editors), The slum population of sub-Saharan Africa almost doubled in 15
HIV, Resurgent Infections years, reaching nearly 200 million in 2005.”(17)
and Population Change in
Africa, International Studies in Conditions can be dire. Packer, describing Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city,
Population Vol 6, Springer, New communicates a strong sense of revulsion: “It’s hard to decide…” he
York, page 124.
observes, “…if the extravagant ugliness of the cityscape is a sign of vigour or of
14. See reference 9, page 4.
disease – a life force or an impending apocalypse.”(18) He concludes that “…
15. Peters, Krijn, Paul Richards the human misery of Lagos not only overwhelms one’s senses and sympathy but
and Koen Vlassenroot (2003),
What Happens to Youth During also seems irreversible.”(19)
and After Wars? A Preliminary Garth Myers takes a less visceral approach, arguing that African
Review of Literature on Africa governments, encouraged by multilateral institutions and donor
and Assessment on the Debate,
ROWOO, The Hague, October, governments, have adopted neoliberal policies that have left a path of
accessible at http://www. ruin for most Africans. In his survey of Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar in
rawoo.nl/pdf/youthreport.pdf; Tanzania, and Zambia’s capital, Lusaka, he finds that poverty has become
also Sommers, Marc (2003),
War, Urbanization and Africa’s
more widespread and that local governments have lost the capacity to
Youth at Risk: Understanding meet their responsibilities.
and Addressing Future Whether one views the difficulties at an on the ground, sensory
Challenges, Basic Education
level (like Packer, a journalist) or from the level of structure, policy and
and Policy Support (BEPS)
Activity and Creative Associates process (like Myers, an academic), the result for Africa’s urban poor is
International, Washington DC, pretty much the same. Municipal governments may be weak, overrun and
accessible at http://www. even hapless for any number of reasons, and generally depend heavily
beps.net/publications/BEPS-
UrbanizationWarYouthatRisk-.pdf. on some combination of donor and NGO ideas, monies and private
16. Human Rights Watch (2002),
sector partnerships. Their coordination of such efforts ranges between
Hidden in Plain View: Refugees loose and non-existent. Public sector provision for basic necessities is, in
Living Without Protection in general, minimal and likely favour the wealthy. As Lubuva (a Tanzanian
Nairobi and Kampala, Human
government official) notes: “Urban local authorities have very little revenue
Rights Watch, New York; also
Sommers, Marc (2001a), of their own, far less than what they would require to keep pace with the rate
“Young, male and Pentecostal: of urbanization.”(20) Private sector economies are too often tiny, wracked
urban refugees in Dar es by corruption and nepotism, and provide economic opportunities merely
Salaam, Tanzania”, Journal of
Refugee Studies Vol 14, No 4, for the fortunate few. As a result, informality “…has become a vital facet
pages 347–370. of African urban life in the sense that it is predominantly driven by informal
17. United Nations Population practices in such areas as work, housing, land use, transportation and a variety
Fund (UNFPA) (2007), State of of social services.”(21)
the World Population 2007:
The situation, at least for some cities, is becoming significantly
Unleashing the Potential of
Urban Growth, UNFPA, New worse. One study of domestic water use in East African cities, for
York, page 16. example, indicates a decline of as much as 72 per cent in the per capita
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E N V I R O N M E N T & U R B A N I Z AT I O N Vol 22 No 2 October 2010

rate of daily water use over a recent three-decade period (1967–1997).(22) 18. Packer, George (2006),
“The megacity: decoding the
Sanitation in urban slums in East and Southern Africa is “deplorable” chaos of Lagos”, The New
and water-related diseases such as scabies, dysentery and cholera are Yorker Vol 82, No 37, November
commonplace.(23) 13, page 5, accessible at
http://www.newyorker.com/
Bryceson asserts that: “The common assumption that urban dwellers archive/2006/11/13/061113fa_
enjoy better health than rural dwellers does not apply to the urban poor.”(24) fact_packer?printable=true.
Even direr than the water-related public health threats is the scourge of 19. See reference 18, page 11.
the HIV/AIDS pandemic. East and Southern Africa stand at the centre of 20. Lubuva, John M (2004),
the pandemic, with urban prevalence rates about double those in rural Community Approach to
areas and higher than anywhere else in the world. The threat applies not Security, Social Inclusion and
Development in Tanzania,
only to urban youth, who are the primary victims of AIDS, but also to Paper presented at the
those who depend on them, such as elder relatives in cities.(25) Dialogue on Promoting Co-
As with just about every service in urban Africa, access to urban existence and Security in the
Information Society, Barcelona,
education is unequal and often exclusive. When compared to their 9–11 September 2004
counterparts in rural areas, youth in cities are generally more successful (unpublished paper), page 4.
in this regard (although not in Kenya).(26) But in this area, as in others, the 21. Konings, Piet, Rijk van Dijk
differences between the rich and the poor in African cities are growing, and Dick Foeken (2006), “The
African neighbourhood: an
and acquiring an education in cities tends to be much more available to
introduction”, in Piet Konings
the minority of families with sufficient funds to obtain it.(27) and Dick Foeken (editors),
The difficulties in Africa’s cities are compounded by the high degree Crisis and Creativity: Exploring
of competition that is fuelled by on-going urban population growth: the Wealth of the African
Neighbourhood, Brill, Leiden
setting up shop on a busy street corner to sell cold water or sunglasses and Boston, page 3.
may be hotly contested, and what looks like a concrete slab to one person 22. Thompson, John, Ina T
may be a bed to another. Porras, Elisabeth Wood, James
Bryceson is among a sizeable group of urban Africa scholars who find K Tumwine, Mark R Mujwahuzi,
Munguti Katui-Katua and Nick
that neoliberal economic policies and the expansion of direct foreign Johnstone (2000), “Waiting
investment have exacerbated economic inequalities in cities. They take a at the tap: changes in urban
dark view of the prospects for urban Africa, predicting a threatening future. water use in East Africa over
three decades”, Environment
As Katumanga notes: “What is striking is the assumption that a shrunken state and Urbanization Vol 12, No 2,
can play midwife to the birth of a productive African entrepreneurial class.”(28) October, pages 37–52,
Katumanga doubts that it can. pages 40 and 42.
Other observers take a more positive view, highlighting the excep- 23. Bryceson, Deborah
Fahy (2006), “Fragile cities:
tional creativity that urban residents use to survive (all too frequently, fundamentals of urban life in
to be sure, out of necessity) as an inspiring indication of a “new” kind East and Southern Africa”, in
of Africa emerging in urban neighbourhoods. While African cities may Deborah Fahy Bryceson and
Deborah Potts (editors), African
be in decline, they nonetheless assert that “…the majority of residents of
Urban Economies: Viability,
disadvantaged African neighbourhoods have not passively watched conditions Vitality or Vitiation?, Palgrave
deteriorate.”(29) MacMillan, Hampshire, UK, and
New York, page 24.
24. See reference 23, page 25.
25. Kamwengo, Martin M
III. AFRICA’S URBAN YOUTH (2007), “Gendered generational
support systems among
a. Demographics elderly urbanites in Zambia”,
in Matšeliso, M Mapetla, Ann
Schlyter and Basia D Bless
As noted above, youth (and male youth in particular) are at the forefront (editors), Urban Experiences of
of Africa’s advance towards cities. This should hardly be surprising, as Gender, Generations and
today’s global population is the youngest in history. In rough terms, half Social Justice, Institute of
Southern African Studies,
the people in the world (about 3.3 billion) are under 25, with 1.5 billion National University of Lesotho,
aged between 12 and 24. Fertility rates are now declining across most of page 112.
the globe, and a youth cohort this large is unlikely to be seen again.(30) 26. Department of Economic
Of this extraordinary number of young people, 86 per cent live in low- and Social Affairs (2007),
World Youth Report 2007:
and middle-income countries,(31) an unprecedented situation for those Young People’s Transition
addressing development issues. to Adulthood: Progress and

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Challenges, United Nations, Sub-Saharan Africa’s youth population has attracted particular
New York, page 91.
attention from demographers because the absolute number of young
27. See reference 23. people is growing faster there than anywhere else. Sub-Saharan Africa’s
28. Katumanga, Musambayi population has quadrupled since 1950 and, unlike all other world regions,
(2005), “A city under siege:
banditry and modes of the expansion of sub-Saharan Africa’s youth population will not peak for
accumulation in Nairobi, another 20 years. Out of 46 countries and territories where at least 70 per
1991–2004”, Review of African cent of the population is under the age of 30, only seven are not in sub-
Political Economy Vol 32, No
106, pages 505–520, page 507. Saharan Africa.(32)
29. See reference 21, page 3.
Young Africans emptying villages and funnelling into cities have
30. Barker, Gary (2005), Dying to
never paid much attention to the contention that African cities are built
Be Men: Youth, Masculinity and on an economic house of cards. To cities they go, and once there, few will
Social Exclusion, Routledge, ever return to live in their former rural homes, as has been demonstrated
London, 186 pages.
repeatedly in Africa’s urban history.(33) Governments have periodically
31. World Bank (2006), World engineered returns of (mostly male) urban youth to the countryside, and
Development Report 2007:
Development and the Next
they have proven fruitless. Perhaps the most famous of these was the
Generation, World Bank, “Nguvu Kazi” (“Hard Work”) campaign in 1983 in Tanzania, which aimed
Washington DC, page 4. to “repatriate” apparently jobless urbanites (many of whom actually
32. Leahy, Elizabeth, Robert worked in the informal economy) to their rural homes. It proved to be
Engelman, Carloyn Gibb
an expensive, embarrassing flop. Once dropped in a rural area, youth
Vogel, Sarah Haddock and
Todd Preston (2007), The simply hopped on a bus or train and returned straight to the capital.(34)
Shape of Things to Come: Why Probably the most dramatic evidence of the determination of African
Age Structure Matters to a urban youth to remain in cities is the case of Internally Displaced Persons
Safer, More Equitable World,
Population Action International, (IDPs) in Khartoum, Sudan. Despite intimidation, including the extensive
Washington DC. bulldozing of IDP homes by the Sudanese government, a survey of IDPs
33. Ogbu, Ostia and Gerrishon found that young people saw themselves as urban and had no desire to
Ikiara (1995), “The crisis of leave Khartoum.(35)
urbanization in sub-Saharan
Africa”, Courier Jan–Feb, pages
While working for the US government’s Central Intelligence Agency
52–59; also see reference 15, in 1985, a demographer named Gary Fuller coined the term “youth
Sommers (2003). bulge”,(36) which has had a lengthy shelf life. The term describes a particular
34. Sawers, Larry (1989), “Urban demographic phenomenon, namely the large number of youth relative to
primacy in Tanzania”, Economic the adult population, but it also conjures up a sense of instability and has
Development and Cultural
Change Vol 37, No 4, pages come to be associated with threat and danger. A “bulge”, after all, may burst.
841–859, pages 854–855.
35. Jacobsen, Karen, Sue
Lautze and Abdal Monim b. Youth and conflict
Kheider Osman (2001), “The
Sudan: unique challenges of
displacement in Khartoum”, The high presence of youth in the urban population has created
in Marc Vincent and Birgitte considerable agitation among some analysts. The concern is reflected in
Refslund Sorensen (editors),
Caught Between Borders:
the development community, including the US Agency for International
Response Strategies of the Development (USAID), which noted a few years ago that: “Urbanization
Internally Displaced, Pluto concentrates precisely that demographic group most inclined to violence:
Press, London, and Norwegian
Refugee Council.
unattached young males who have left their families behind and have come to
the city seeking economic opportunities.”(37)
36. Hendrixson, Anne (2004),
Angry Young Men, Veiled Young A number of publications have highlighted the statistical correlation
Women: Constructing a New between nations with youth bulge demographics and the incidence of
Population Threat, Corner political instability or civil conflict.(38) In statistical terms, this correlation
House Briefing 34, December,
accessible at http://www. certainly exists. Urdal notes that it is “…extremely robust.”(39) But it also
thecornerhouse.org.uk/pdf/ invites serious distortions. Most nations with youth bulge populations
briefing/34veiled.pdf, page 2. have not in fact had recent civil conflicts; and when civil conflicts do
37. USAID (2005), Youth occur in countries with youth bulges, the great majority of young men
and Conflict: A Toolkit for never get involved in violence.(40)
Intervention, Office of Conflict
Management and Mitigation, There is no question that large concentrations of unemployed or
United States Agency for underemployed people may contribute to instability at some point.
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Yet what is so striking about most African cities is that they are not far International Development
(USAID), Washington DC, page 7.
more difficult, threatening and unstable. Nor does the “youth bulge and
instability thesis” take into account other factors related to instability. 38. See reference 32, page 22.

Some scholars, for instance, argue for a connection between city size and 39. Urdal, Henrik (2004), The
Devil in the Demographics:
crime rates;(41) others for a relationship between a gradual process toward The Effect of Youth Bulges
democracy and the risk of conflict.(42) The fact that virtually all recent civil on Domestic Armed Conflict,
wars in Africa have their origins in rural areas also calls into question the 1950–2000, World Bank Social
Development Papers: Conflict
alleged connection between large numbers of unemployed urban youth Prevention and Reconstruction
in Africa and conflict.(43) Paper No 14, Washington DC,
The concept of the youth bulge is useful when it attracts attention to page 16.
nations with unusually large numbers of youth who require support. But 40. Barker, Gary and Christine
Ricardo (2006), “Young men
highlighting the youth bulge and instability thesis is counter-productive and the construction of
when it incorrectly colours most youth as dangerous and inspires masculinity in sub-Saharan
unproven assertions about how young people think and act. It is also Africa: implications for HIV/
important to remember that the youth bulge literature contains little data AIDS, conflict and violence”,
in Ian Bannon and Maria C
featuring the views of youth themselves.(44) Correia (editors), The Other
Half of Gender: Men’s Issues
in Development, World Bank,
Washington DC, page 181.
c. Youth employment 41. See reference 10.
42. See reference 39.
The lives of many urban youth are dominated either by work or the
43. Sommers, Marc (2007a),
need to find work. Accurate youth unemployment rates in Africa are “Embracing the margins:
remarkably difficult to establish and the reported range is phenomenal. working with youth amid war
For instance, Liberia’s reported rate is 88 per cent,(45) while Burundi’s has and insecurity”, in Lael Brainard
and Derek Chollet (editors), Too
been estimated at one per cent.(46) That two of the world’s poorest and Poor for Peace? Global Poverty,
youngest nations, each with significant urban growth rates, could have Conflict and Security in the 21st
such divergent rates for youth unemployment is difficult to believe. Century, Brookings Institution
Press, Washington DC, 175
There are several related reasons for these reported differences.
pages.
Accurate, reliable data on employment can be extraordinarily difficult to
44. Among the most
gather, particularly in impoverished post-war nations such as Burundi and documented and cited
Liberia. There is also little agreement among countries as to what constitutes recent studies promoting the
“work” or “no work”. The employment–unemployment dichotomy also fails youth bulge and instability
thesis is Cincotta, Richard P,
to include a far more significant marker of economic activity for youth and Robert Engelman and Daniele
most other urban dwellers, namely underemployment, the kind of work Anastasion (2003), The Security
that is commonplace in big African cities but that is difficult to quantify Demographic: Population
and Civil Conflict after the
because it may be short-lived and irregular. And finally, the livelihoods of Cold War, Population Action
many urban dwellers are, in many if not most cases, technically illegal. International, Washington
Accordingly, economic life is frequently shielded from official view; what DC. Critical assessments
of the thesis are available
residents of Dar es Salaam might call mambo ya kujificha (the affairs of elsewhere, see reference 36;
hiding oneself). also Sommers, Marc (2006a),
The overwhelming majority of economic activity in urban Africa Fearing Africa’s Young Men:
is in the informal sector – also called the black market, the hidden The Case of Rwanda, Conflict
Prevention and Reconstruction
sector, the underground, fraudulent, peripheral, shadow and creeping Unit Working Paper No 32,
economy,(47) terms suggesting that it is not the context for honourable World Bank, Washington DC,
economic activity. Yet in Africa, two in three urban residents obtain accessible at http://www.
eldis.org/static/DOC21389.
their livelihoods from the informal economic sector, which is thought htm; and Sommers, Marc
to be growing at an annual rate of 7 per cent. In the near future, it is (2007c), West Africa’s Youth
estimated that more than 90 per cent of jobs will be part of informal Employment Challenge: The
Case of Guinea, Liberia, Sierra
economies.(48) A failure to recognize the vitality and necessity of Leone and Côte d’Ivoire, United
informal markets constitutes a denial of fundamental economic Nations Industrial Development
realities. Formal sector growth rates in developing countries (perhaps Organization (UNIDO), Vienna,
accessible at http://fletcher.
2–3 per cent) cannot keep up with urban growth rates (which are often tufts.edu/faculty/sommers/
around 4–5 per cent).(49) Sommers-2007.pdf.

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45. Government of A striking characteristic of African urban life on the streets, in shops,
Liberia (2004), Millennium markets and neighbourhoods, is how often the subject of moneymaking
Development Goals Report
2004, Government of Liberia, comes up. How a certain person or enterprise is getting ahead, where
Monrovia, page 7. prices for commodities are high or low, when new shipments of materials
46. Leibbrandt, Murray and are arriving at the docks, where and why police are sweeping through
Cecil Mlatsheni (2004), Youth in particular neighbourhoods or markets – these are examples of the subjects
sub-Saharan Labour Markets,
Macro-Micro Linkage Forum that youth and others in African cities discuss. This is not idle chat – it is
Paper, African Development crucial information in a changing and extremely competitive economic
and Poverty Reduction, environment.
Somerset West, South Africa,
page 38, accessible at http://
Finding formal sector work can be particularly difficult for urban
www.commerce.uct.ac.za/ youth, as there are few jobs and many youth lack the qualifications that
Research_Units/DPRU/DPRU- formal sector work often requires. A Sierra Leone study, for example, found
Conference2004/Papers/Youth_
that a mere nine per cent of the working population had formal sector jobs
in_SSA_CecilMlatshni.pdf.
and that opportunities were significantly lower for youth.(50) Many youth
47. Tripp, Aili Mari (1997),
Changing the Rules: The Politics in urban Africa, male and female, are engaged in work that often provides
of Liberalization and the Urban only some “small-small” money, or perhaps a bartered item, in return.
Informal Economy in Tanzania, This sort of work is frequently irregular and is usually entrepreneurial.
University of California Press,
Los Angeles and London, page A study in Luanda, Angola, found the average age of those working in
18; also Karl, Kenneth (2000), the city’s outdoor market areas was 21, and that both male and female
“The informal sector”, The youth averaged just over five years of education. The young women had
Courier Vol 178, pages 53–54.
Karl’s remarkable list totals
significantly fewer options than male youth and earned less.(51) African
30 terms for the informal formal sector economies, in short, are generally far too small to absorb
economy. large numbers of out-of-school urban youth. What work they find is likely
48. See reference 47, Karl to be temporary and holding onto it may be impossible.
(2000), page 53.
Dar es Salaam is a good case in point. Known to rural youth as a
49. See reference 47, Karl place of extravagant wealth, its lure is confirmed by returnees, who come
(2000).
with money in their pockets and gifts for their relatives.(52) A young man
50. World Bank (2007),
Improving Opportunities for who has “made it” in Dar es Salaam can return home to marry a village
Sustainable Youth Employment girl – before returning to Tanzania’s largest city. But from work to housing
in Sierra Leone, Report No to marketing, most people’s lives take place within the unregulated (and
XXX-SL, Environmentally
and Socially Sustainable technically illegal) informal sector of the city’s mushrooming economy.(53)
Development Unit, West Africa, Dar es Salaam is known to youth across Tanzania as “Bongoland”, an
World Bank, Washington DC, illuminating nickname, since “bongo” is slang for “brains”. It requires
page xiv.
cunning and smarts to make it in Dar es Salaam. Many don’t because
51. de Barros, Manual Correira
(2005), “Profiling youth involved
competition is so fierce.
in the informal markets of
Luanda”, in Keith Muloongo,
Roger Kibasomba and Jemima d. Modernity and tradition
Njeri Kariri (editors), The Many
Faces of Human Security: Case
Studies of Seven Countries However young people arrive on a city street corner or neighbourhood,
in Southern Africa, Institute it is likely that both insecurity and stimulation mark their lives to a
of Security Studies, Pretoria,
page 212. significant degree. The swirl of “new” and “modern” trends, fashions,
52. Sommers, Marc (2001b), ideas and technologies that hit cities first have a magnetic attraction. As
Fear in Bongoland: Burundi soon as stylish new t-shirts, slang phrases, shoes, songs, arm movements,
Refugees in Urban Tanzania, gadgets and the like hit the streets, many if not most urban youth are
Studies in Forced Migration
Series Vol 8, Berghahn Books, eager to master and/or own them. Rural youth, not wanting to be viewed
New York and Oxford, page 78. as “backward” or “bushy”, greedily grasp at incoming trends as well.
53. See reference 9, pages The African dichotomy between the urban and the rural, the cutting
42–43. edge and the all-too-familiar, is described by Utas, speaking about Liberian
culture:

“To most Liberians, modernity is what comes from overseas and

predominantly takes the form of commodities (technology, clothes,

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E N V I R O N M E N T & U R B A N I Z AT I O N Vol 22 No 2 October 2010

etc.), communications, the western form of education and world

religions such as Christianity and, to some extent, Islam. Modernity
comes in the guise of consumption... Tradition on the other hand is
what is locally produced, whether it comes in the form of commodities
or of ideas. Traditions also occupy a space largely dominated by
elders, thus youth, contesting the powers of elders are prone to seek
status in the modernities.”(54) 54. Utas, Mats (2003), “Sweet
battlefields: youth and the
This is no small distinction. The heartland of modernity in Africa is the Liberian civil war”, Dissertations
in Cultural Anthropology,
urban world. When young people leave rural Africa, to a significant degree Uppsala University, Sweden,
they leave African traditions behind as well. Yet they are still tied to the page 44.
traditions of their upbringing. The traditional gender roles, for example,
are frequently dominant and can create trajectories and dangers for both
male and female youth.
Mugisha et al. describe these gender archetypes: “Boys are conditioned
for the outside world, while girls are conditioned for the domestic world.”(55) 55. Mugisha, Frederick,
Jacqueline Arinaitwe-Mugisha
There is immediate evidence of this separation on most African city streets: and Bilhah O N Hagembe
while women and female youth can certainly be seen, men and male (2003), “Alcohol, substance and
youth tend to dominate the public world. Their under-representation in drug use among urban slum
adolescents in Nairobi, Kenya”,
public spheres of city life may help explain why female youth are so often
Cities Vol 20, No 4, pages
overlooked. But beyond “out of sight, out of mind” tendencies, there are 231–240, page 238.
other influential gender roles that significantly affect male and female
urban youth. Mugisha et al. note that: “Women are taught from childhood
how to be submissive, while men are taught how to exercise authority.”(56) Yet in 56. Mugisha and colleagues
urban settlement life, they point out, “…no systems have been developed to point out, however, that times
of crisis can reveal a different
help boys and girls fulfill the constructs that society has placed upon them.”(57) picture, as women pull together
This sets the stage for significant difficulties. to find solutions while men,
faced with situations that
undermine their authority,
e. Exclusion and belonging are more likely to fall apart or
withdraw into the escapism of
alcohol or drugs; see reference
Some urban youth become deeply involved with religious institutions, a 55, page 238.
reality too frequently overlooked by those seeking to engage with them. 57. See reference 55, page 238.
Religion may be a pathway towards success in the city. Belonging to a
community of believers can provide structure, support and a wealth of
resources and activities, possibly even help in finding housing or a job.
Pentecostal churches are often unusually effective in attracting urban
youth to their communities.(58)
58. Hansen, Karen Tranberg
The moral world of Pentecostalism and other religious institutions, (2008), “Localities and sites of
Islamic and Christian, can accentuate one of the distinctions that youth agency in Lusaka”, in
separate those urban youth who belong, in some way, to mainstream Karen Tranberg Hansen (editor),
Youth and the City in the Global
society and those who do not. The division is sometimes seen as between South, Indiana University Press,
the “good” and the “bad”. Urban youth who reject mainstream tradition Bloomington and Indianapolis;
and religion are common targets of castigation. The situation is informed also see reference 52.
by a powerful irony: urban youth are a demographic majority that sees
itself as an excluded minority. Being out of school and unemployed or in
and out of work invites perceptions of young people as derelicts, thieves
and prostitutes. Such titles are markers of exclusion and generators of
profound social distance.(59) 59. Tensions between views of
The sheer numbers of urban youth living on the margins of society African youth as threats and
underlying youth realities have
can mean that the urban “mainstream” is strikingly small in terms of the been elaborated by the author
overall population of cities. The civil society dominated by educated elites elsewhere; see reference 44,
may have, at best, tenuous connections to the out of school, marginalized Sommers (2006a); also see
reference 43.
and under-represented urban youth majority, with devastating results for
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youth access to services, jobs and acceptance. But youth can also claim
new turf and identities for themselves in the emerging context of city life.
When they enter the city, the anonymity provides the opportunity for
many to reinvent themselves, sometimes repeatedly.
Male youth in particular partake of the possibilities. One way is to
join a football club, which can be serious business, providing members,
as Baller found in peri-urban Dakar, with a chance to “…see themselves not
at the ‘end of the world’… but at its centre, re-imaging the urban landscape and
60. Baller, Susann (2002), taking possession of symbols of power and success.”(60)
Playing Football in a Post- Nicknames are an important part of identity re-invention. In Dar es
colonial City: The Nawetaan
Campionship in Pikine
Salaam in the 1990s, popular youth nicknames included “Eddy Muffy”
(Senegal), Humboldt University, (after the American comedian and actor, Eddie Murphy) and “Maiko”
Berlin, www.vad-ev.de/2004/ (after the American pop star, Michael Jackson).(61) Nicknames can change
download/01tagung/018papers
2002/baller.pdf, page 8.
as namesakes lose popularity or when a youth chooses a different identity.
Another important vehicle of belonging is contemporary music,
61. See reference 52.
which speaks to the frustration of urban youth and to their sense of being
misunderstood and viewed as deviant, when they are merely struggling to
find a way to succeed. This is frequently tied to a sense of the hypocrisy that
exists among the powers that be. Moyer finds that Dar es Salaam youth,
for instance, quote the lyrics of Bob Marley, the late reggae musician, “…
as a means of commenting on local social and economic injustices, which they
62. Moyer, Eileen (2005), “Street attribute to poor governance and hypocrisy.”(62) Youth all over the world,
corner justice in the name
including in Africa, have been powerfully drawn to hip-hop culture/
of Jah: imperatives for peace
among Dar es Salaam street rap music, which expresses what it’s like to be young and searching for
youth”, Africa Today Vol 51, respect and acceptance on new terms. Most African rappers seek a broader
No 3, pages 31–58, page 36. audience by avoiding the use of curse words, which are commonplace in
American rap songs. Speaking of rappers in Dakar, Niang concludes that
they “…do not represent a minority voice but belong to the category of local
youth whose major unifying features are urban poverty and the daily inequalities
63. Niang, Abdoulaye (2006), they endure.”(63) Commenting on rappers in Tanzania, Perrullo observes that
“Bboys: hip-hop culture in they seek to alter “…popular conceptions of [youth] as hooligans and [allow]
Dakar, Senegal”, in Pam Nilan
and Carles Feixa (editors), youth to become knowledge holders and educators within urban contexts.”(64)
Global Youth? Hybrid Identities, One of the most common – and most commonly overlooked – forms
Plural Worlds, Routledge, of civil society in African cities are male youth social groups. It is not
London and New York,
page182. unusual in city neighbourhoods to see small signs scrawled on a wall,
64. Perullo, Alex (2005), words such as “Action Boys” or “Sunglass Boys”. A wooden bench on the
“Hooligans and heroes: youth sidewalk beneath the sign may be the meeting place for members of a
identity and hip-hop in Dar es local youth group. At the end of a difficult day of searching for work or
Salaam, Tanzania”, Africa Today
Vol 51, No 4, pages 75–101,
some action, joining peers to discuss economic, social and political events
page 77. at dusk is an important way for male youth to create community and
belonging in huge African cities. Ya’u, describing this sort of gathering
in Kano, Nigeria, asserts that such typical adolescent “gangs” or yandaba
provide male youth with an identity. They can be involved in such
social services as neighbourhood protection, or may start sport clubs.
Membership tends to be inclusive, peer oriented and non-hierarchical,
a “…means of socialization and a sort of a passing rite into adulthood.” Not
65. Ya’u, Yunusa Zakari (2000), least, they are “…a strictly male affair.”(65)
“The youth, economic crisis
and identity transformation: the
case of the yandaba in Kano”,
in Attahiru Jega (editor), Identity f. Neoliberal policies and the moral worlds of cities
Transformation and Identity
Politics under Structural
Adjustment in Nigeria, Nordiska Ya’u argues that a profound shift took place in the organization and
Afrikainstitutet, Uppsala, and function of the adolescence banding, or gangs, following the introduction
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E N V I R O N M E N T & U R B A N I Z AT I O N Vol 22 No 2 October 2010

of a Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) in Nigeria in 1986. The Centre for Research and
pressure on governments to shift from public to private service provision Documentation, Kano, page 164.

led, among other things, to a dramatic decline in government subsidies

for crucial food items on which the urban poor depended. The impacts
were immediate and immense, as food scarcities increased and public
sector jobs decreased. Myers argues that the economic emphasis on
privatization spilled over into culture and consciousness, resulting in “…a
more individuated and fractured sense of self and a commodification of many
aspects of everyday life”; a moral justification “…to be selfish, if only just to
get by.”(66) 66. See reference 9, pages
The fallout from fairly drastic SAP policies (together with other 6–7. Interestingly, while the
invented Kiswahili word for
causes, such as government corruption) on urban residents and their privatization is ubinafsishaji, the
communities in many African countries has invited new interpretations literal translation of the term is
of morality. Ya’u describes what happened in Kano, Nigeria: “With the “the causing of individualism or
selfishness”.
collapse of social services and [the] inability of young people to secure any other
legitimate means of livelihood…” he notes, “…they are left in the street to fend
for themselves by whatever means.”(67) The impact on adolescent groups was 67. See reference 65, page 172.
profound. Rather than serving as a means for male adolescents and youth
to gather socially, contribute to community life and help them pass into
adulthood, the yandaba became “…organizational platform[s] through which
they could secure their livelihood, even if criminally.”(68) In times of severe 68. See reference 65, page 172.
economic stress, some youth joined because of the promise of regular
meals, others (girls and boys) to secure a place to sleep. What supported
yandaba members in the aftermath of SAP was crime, and sometimes,
violent crime.
A more general outcome has been a grey area between what may be
seen as morally correct and what is required to survive in town. Selling
drugs to policemen, for example, may become a “good job” because it is
a regular business and protects the seller from arrests or confiscations by
the police in the future.(69) The moral ambiguity extends to government 69. Private interview in
Freetown, Sierra Leone.
officials; a Pentecostal church pastor in Dar es Salaam explains that:
“People must take bribes here, since the salaries are too low to live on.” In such
circumstances, “…in no sense is it bad… to take a bribe.”(70) 70. See reference 52, page 176.
Katumanga describes the involvement of some government and
political elements in Nairobi, through political patronage, in the promotion
of deviance and crime in the aftermath of structural adjustment. In
contrast to pervasive views that a rise in crime is the result of a deviant
sub-culture inhabited largely by unemployed male youth, Katumanga
argues that in 1990s Kenya, deviance “…was state encouraged for politico–
economic ends.”(71) While Katumanga doesn’t deny the presence of angry 71. See reference 28, page 510.
unemployed youth, he notes that many were goaded by a government
with devious aspirations. One is again forced to consider whether the
strong majority of poor urban (male) youth are dangerous, as so often
assumed, or whether there is a tendency to scapegoat them for urban ills.

g. Manhood pressures on male youth

Traditional understandings of manhood in Africa are associated with

having a house, being married and having children. Cities can be places
where male youth escape manhood pressures, but they also serve as a
proving ground. In Tanzania, a male youth might be accepted as a man
in his home village if he can return with sufficient money to marry and
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 URBAN YOUTH IN AFRICA
72. See reference 52. build a house.(72) Achieving this can be exceedingly difficult, as noted
above, and some may never achieve it. Utas describes the pressures and
difficulties that male youth faced in town in the aftermath of economic
crisis in the 1980s:
“…many young men lost even the possibility to establish themselves
as adults, by building a house or getting married – though they
continued to become fathers, of children for whom they could not
73. Utas, Mats (2005), “Building provide.”(73)
a future? The reintegration
and remarginalization of youth Chronologically, the men “…outgrew youth but socially they became
in Liberia”, in Paul Richards ‘youthmen’.”(74) Being unable to gain the urban foothold sufficient
(editor), No Peace No War: An
Anthropology of Contemporary to becoming socially accepted as a man is a much deeper form of
Armed Conflicts, Ohio marginalization than arises merely from being unable to complete one’s
University Press, Athens, and schooling or become a wage earner in town. Becoming a “youthman” is a
James Currey, Oxford, page 150.
permanent social punishment.
74. Momoh, Abubakar (1999),
The Youth Crisis in Nigeria:
Understanding the Phenomenon
of the Area Boys and Girls, h. Pressures on female youth
unpublished paper presented at
the Conference on Children and
Youth as Emerging Categories in
The situation facing urban female youth is no less serious, and on a
Africa, Leuven, 4–6 November, day to day basis can be far worse. They tend to have significantly fewer
cited by Utas (2005), see economic options than their male youth counterparts, and when other
reference 73, page 150.
options fail, prostitution may be the only means of survival – a perilous,
75. See reference 13, page 128. if seemingly unavoidable, path.(75) The path does not necessarily include
regular work as a prostitute. As Moyer describes the situation in Dar
es Salaam, transactional sex may be an occasional necessity. Some of
these young women may also have boyfriends, although the boys may
be unusually poor themselves: “Young men with minimal resources were
considered more likely to accept that their girlfriends also slept with other men
for money because they knew they could not afford to support a woman on their
76. Moyer, Eileen (2006), “Not own.”(76) Significantly, many of the young women that Moyer interviewed
quite comforts of home: wanted to:
searching for locality among
street youth in Dar es Salaam”, “…become pregnant by their boyfriends in the hope that this would
in Piet Konings and Dick Foeken
(editors), Crisis and Creativity: cement the bonds between them. They saw pregnancy as one of the
Exploring the Wealth of the only ways to escape the stigma that marked their lives... many men
African Neighbourhood, Brill, reported they were more likely to marry a woman after she had a
Leiden and Boston, page 185.
child by him and proved that she was fertile....”(77)
77. See reference 76, page 186.
The desire to get married (even unofficially) results not only in “boyfriends”,
transactional sex and prostitution. It also means a dramatically heightened
vulnerability to infection from sexually transmitted disease, including
HIV/AIDS. HIV prevalence rates among young urban Africans are now
higher for females than for males.

i. Adolescent experiences: the case of Kibera, Nairobi

One study of urban life in Africa provides a lens for understanding the
lives of adolescents, who are overlooked in most youth studies. In this
case, the target group was between the ages of 10 and 19 and all lived
in the slums of Kibera, Nairobi. Half of this sample of adolescents had
migrated to Kibera from other parts of the country, suggesting that urban
migrants in African cities include a great many young children. Many
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E N V I R O N M E N T & U R B A N I Z AT I O N Vol 22 No 2 October 2010

leave school early, migrants in particular. The girls in the sample were
significantly less likely to be attending school: 43 per cent, as compared
to 29 per cent of boys, were not in school. One-quarter of the boys and
14 per cent of girls were working for pay. The threat of sexual violence for
female adolescent youth was high and the fear of being raped appeared
to be alarmingly high among girls in the same sample. Boys were twice as
likely as girls to have a public place for meeting friends of the same sex.
Sixteen per cent of the surveyed girls were married and 16 per cent were
mothers.(78) The trends that apply to urban youth lives in Africa, in short, 78. Erulkar, Annabel S and
appear to apply equally to their younger counterparts. James K Matheka (2007),
Adolescence in the Kibera
Slums of Nairobi, Kenya,
Population Council, Nairobi and
IV. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: ENGAGING WITH New York, page v.

AFRICA’S URBAN YOUTH

It is hardly a broadside to state that most international assistance has
proven ineffective. Easterly, for example, notes that the estimated US$ 2.3
trillion that Western nations have invested in foreign aid over the last half
century has failed to significantly reduce, much less end, poverty in the
developing world.(79) Referring to the generally disappointing performance 79. Easterly, William (2006), The
of Western government aid agencies, Collier states that: “No aspect of White Man’s Burden: Why the
West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest
domestic policy is run this badly.”(80) A study on post-war reconstruction Have Done so Much Ill and so
in Burundi found that international assistance was unintentionally Little Good, Penguin Books,
reconstructing inequalities that were a cause of civil war.(81) Uvin not only New York, 448 pages.

found the Mutara project in pre-civil war and pre-genocide Rwanda to be, 80. Collier, Paul (2007), The
Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest
for the most part, “…a complete failure”, the project also supported forces of Countries are Failing and What
exclusion that helped lead, ultimately and unintentionally, to genocide.(82) Can Be Done About It, Oxford
Perhaps one reason why foreign assistance so frequently comes up University Press, Oxford and
New York, 224 pages, page 184.
short is that the primary foreign aid agency constituencies are not poor
81. Sommers, Marc (2005), “It
people overseas but politicians and other citizens in the home country. always rains in the same place
Collier, for example, contends that: “The key obstacle to reforming aid is first. Geographic favouritism in
[domestic] public opinion.”(83) This is illustrated by the following explanation rural Burundi”, Issue Briefing
No 1, African Programme,
from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) about its Woodrow Wilson International
foreign aid expenditures: “Close to 80 per cent of USAID’s grants and contracts Centre for Scholars,
go directly to American firms and non-governmental organizations.”(84) Washington DC, accessible at
http://www.wilsoncenter.org/
If international assistance generally creates underwhelming results, topics/pubs/IB001.pdf.
then the challenges of developing effective policies and programmes for
82. Uvin, Peter (1998), Aiding
urban youth in impoverished sub-Saharan Africa are especially daunting. Violence: The Development
But it can be done, and doing it is imperative given the region’s rate of Enterprise in Rwanda,
urban growth and the continuing expansion of its burgeoning youth Kumarian Press, West Hartford,
CT, pages 119 and 121.
population.
83. See reference 80, page 183.
Before turning to recommendations for next steps, some brief con-
84. United States Agency for
cluding remarks are required. Africa will remain a rural-based continent International Development
only until 2030. African cities, which are already underserved and (USAID) (2007), “Why foreign
fiercely competitive economic environments, are negatively impacted by aid?”, accessible at http://
www.chapman.edu/wilkinson/
neoliberal approaches to African development. Despite such challenges, socsci/sociology/Faculty/
rural investments by international agencies are unlikely to persuade most Babbie/e211/BiblioFiles/
urban migrant youth to return to their original homes. African youth USAID_1998.htm.
migrate to cities and then stay there, because cities are stimulating, full
of bounty and possibility, and provide opportunities for personal re-
invention and a shift towards modernity. Yet urban areas are also sites of a
new and alarming form of youth marginalization and exclusion, namely

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 URBAN YOUTH IN AFRICA

the inability of many to gain social acceptance as adults. Youth frustration,

alienation and defiance and sometimes despair and fatalism appear to
be commonplace. Overlooking, misinterpreting or underestimating key
urban youth trends is a mistake.
Working with civil society in African cities also requires a new
approach. Marginalized urban male youth are part of a civil society that is
distinctly separate from the mainstream, and marginalized female youth
are alarmingly under-represented in nearly all forms of civil society.
Accessing youth views and needs through mainstream civil society invites
serious distortions, because elite youth leaders are unlikely to represent
the views and needs of the non-elite, under-educated youth majority.
The following are broad, framing recommendations for engaging
with and effectively supporting members of the marginalized majority of
85. Additional sub-Saharan Africa’s urban youth.(85)
recommendations are found
at the end of several of • There is a need for vigorous policy reform. Programmes alone
the author’s publications, cannot possibly address the needs of most urban youth due to
including Sommers (2007a), see
reference 43; also Sommers, their huge demographic numbers. It is thus critical that urban
Marc (2007b), “Creating policies focus on stated youth concerns. National and international
programmes for Africa’s agencies should advocate for reforming government policies that are
urban youth: the challenge of
marginalization”, Journal of particularly dysfunctional, such as strict limits on informal economies
International Cooperation in and restrictions on access to land and housing that, collectively, can
Education Vol 10, No 1, pages stymie youth efforts to become adults and stabilize their lives.
19–31, accessible at http://
home.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/
• Develop programming strategies for addressing youth marginali-
cice/10–1MarcSommers.pdf; zation and exclusion by gender, class and location. Develop
see reference 44, Sommers strategies for including those male and female youth who are most in
(2007c); Sommers, Marc
(2006b), Youth and Conflict:
need of programming (members of the excluded, poor youth majority)
A Brief Review of Available and ensuring that better educated and more advantaged youth do
Literature, USAID and Equip3/ not dominate programmes. Make programmes flexible enough to
Education Development Centre, accommodate the time and childcare requirements of youth, female
Washington DC, accessible
at http://www.eldis.org/cf/ youth in particular. Rather than apportioning limited programme
search/disp/DocDisplay. funds to different locations, consider emphasizing inclusion in
cfm?Doc=DOC22167; and see youth programmes through geographic means. Youth who live in a
reference 15, Sommers (2003).
particular neighbourhood, for example, can automatically participate
86. Such an approach, however in a programme: if you live there, you’re in.(86)
appropriate in principle, runs • Design programmes according to stated poor youth priorities,
the risk of creating chaotic
and ultimately underfunded
including what they need to achieve adulthood. Ask youth what
programming. The idea they need to become socially accepted men and women. Determine
here is not to swell demand whether access to formal education is what they seek or whether
beyond the means of any
they prefer assistance to meet immediate livelihood and adulthood
one programme but, rather,
to attempt to demonstrate requirements. Dramatically increasing youth access to land and
inclusion for young people housing and to vocational training (e.g., apprenticeships, mentoring,
who generally feel excluded. entrepreneurial business skills training, learning how to access
Piloting such an approach looks
useful; so is carefully assessing, microcredit, etc.) will probably be necessary. Health and protection
monitoring and evaluating needs to be integrated into programming, to address threats such
such a programme – and then as HIV/AIDS and widespread sexual and domestic violence against
broadly sharing the results.
women and female youth by men and male youth.
• Advocate for realistic approaches to urban youth programming.
Agencies (implementers and donors) must appreciate the daunting
challenges of working with excluded, alienated and frustrated young
urbanites. Anticipate that programmes will most probably not work
well at first. Pilot programmes that incorporate youth views, together
with assessments and evaluations, are strongly recommended.

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E N V I R O N M E N T & U R B A N I Z AT I O N Vol 22 No 2 October 2010

• Invest sufficient time and funding for quality, unbiased and

independent assessments, monitoring reports and evaluations. A
recent survey of youth and conflict programming literature revealed
a shockingly small proportion of programmes that have carried out
quality evaluation work.(87) This is unacceptable and avoidable. In 87. See reference 85, Sommers
all assessment, monitoring and evaluation work, incorporate regular (2006b).
study of marginalized urban youth in the general area who are not
receiving programming. Doing so is critical because “successful”
programmes may intensify feelings of exclusion, alienation, fatalism
and despair in youth who are not included. Programmes must work
hard to avoid this potentially dangerous outcome.
• Coordinate, network and support local youth programmes,
religious groups, youth groups and sport/cultural initiatives
operating in neighbourhoods as the structures through which
youth can be reached. Such work rarely takes place. Work hard to
ensure that different programmes do not include the same youth
participants. Consider hiring youth leaders as programme employees.
Youth leaders in mainstream civil society tend to be well-educated
youth (usually males) with limited experience and understanding
of marginalized urban youth needs. Hiring them to work with
marginalized youth promises to provide them with important
capacity-building experience.

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(Senegal), Humboldt University, Berlin, www.vad- It, Oxford University Press, Oxford and New York,
ev.de/2004/download/01tagung/018papers2002/ 224 pages.
baller.pdf. de Barros, Manual Correira (2005), “Profiling youth
Barker, Gary (2005), Dying to Be Men: Youth, Masculinity involved in the informal markets of Luanda”, in
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Barker, Gary and Christine Ricardo (2006), “Young Njeri Kariri (editors), The Many Faces of Human
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Caraël, Michel and Judith R Glynn (2008), “HIV infection Stephen Ellis (editor), Africa Now: People, Policies
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