The Great Power Show: Afro-Optimism in the Age of Disorder

Ask almost anyone about the state of the world today and you’ll hear the same words: anxiety, disruption, disorder. There’s a sense of flux; nobody quite knows where things are heading. So, it’s striking to come across a generation that looks at the very same world and feels, of all things, optimistic.

That’s the finding of the latest Africa Youth Survey, published by the Ichikowitz Family Foundation. The survey is one of the most ambitious attempts to measure what the next generation of leaders across the continent is thinking. This year, the survey polled young people across 16 countries, and the headline finding is Afro-optimism.

To understand the nuances behind this finding, in this episode of The Great Power Show, Manoj Kewalramani speaks to Ivor Ichikowitz. He explains that optimism should not be mistaken for satisfaction. This is a generation that is deeply unhappy with its governments, but it is also convinced that its future lies in its own hands, and there are opportunities that it can and should capitalise on.

They also discuss the rise of an African consciousness, concerns around great powers’ interests in Africa’s raw materials, why bandwidth costs are stalling AI adoption in Africa, and how the youth are reading the contest between China, the United States.

"It’s a conversation that challenged a lot of my own assumptions. I hope it does the same for you."

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