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Pan African Youth Perspectives on FFD
Africa, home to the youngest and fastest growing population globally, has faced shrinking fiscal space, capital flight, and uneven access to international financial markets. For African youth, who not only represent over 70% of the continent’s population but also the continent’s potential drivers of innovation and growth, these challenges translate into restricted opportunities, heightened vulnerabilities, and a fragile future.
The Southern Consultations In Windhoek Namibia 2023
The 2016 Africa Human Development Report highlights that gender inequality is costing sub-Saharan Africa on average US$95 billion annually. Gender equality is therefore instrumental to achieving sustainable economic and social development and should be mainstreamed into Africa’s trade agenda to achieve sustainable and inclusive economic growth. Domestic resource mobilization has become a concern for economies in the global south because of the changing international financial architecture.
Moving from Echoes to Action
A key discussion point was the looming public debt crisis, driven more by domestic borrowing than external sources. This inward borrowing approach has the unintended effect of shrinking fiscal space and crowding out essential public services.
Financing our Futures: What does Domestic Resource Mobilization (DRM) mean for Youth?
Youth should care. The main reason is because we’re paying, but not heard. Africa is the youngest continent in the world, with over 60% of its population under the age of 25. Yet despite being the majority, young people are among the most heavily taxed, especially through consumption taxes such as VAT on airtime, mobile money, transport, and everyday goods.
Why Should Young People Care about the Financing for Development Agenda?
It’s a call to action for youth to rise, engage, demand, and drive transformative change and co-creators of a new financing paradigm that truly serves the people and the planet. This piece is also a call to action for governments, multi-lateral institutions and civil society organizations to rise to the challenge of meaningful youth inclusion.