Africa and the Emigration of its Youth part I

The incessant emigration of African youths to other continents has been a debatable issue on the platforms of many radio, television, seminars and conferences. 

This debate that is piloted by mostly private individuals has always concentrated on lampooning the mass emigration of African youths. 

After observing the futile nature of all the efforts inserted by private individuals, some African heads of state have decided to take the lead by thundering their voices on this issue. 

This is the case of the Cameroonian Head of State, who utilises the end portion of his 10th of February 2024 address to the youths to hit on the exodus of youths emigration in his country. 

The emergence of African heads of state on this issue has not only increased its topical value but has also made it a problematic. 

Before delving into an answer to this problematic, I find it a necessitous matter to unveil some key terms. Africa, Emigration, and Youth. 

Africa is one of the richest continents, having a population of 1.488 billion, with 60% made up of youths (UN 2024 stats). Emigration is a form of migration which consists of leaving one's country for another.

For instance, leaving Cameroon for the US or Canada. A youth, as defined by the African charter, is someone between the ages of 15 and 35 years. 

After understanding the definition of these terms, this paper aims at treating this problem in its entirety by looking at three parts: the causes (1), effects (2), and proposed solutions (3) to curb the emigration of African youths. 

 (1) Causes of Emigration of African Youth

The causes of emigration can be classified into 3, that is, economic, social and political. So let's begin with economic causes.

 (A) Economic causes 

The economic causes include the search for employment opportunities, high wages and differences in currency value. 

 (I) In Search of Employment Opportunities

The biggest problem faced by African youth is unemployment, which is caused by the accumulation of posts and an insufficient number of companies to employ the growing population. 

Another huge problem is the fact that most African governments do not support creatives and entrepreneurs.

This makes it very difficult for creatives or entrepreneurs to survive. The consequence will be a reliance on government jobs. And since the government can't recruit all its citizens, there will be a large vacuum in the job market. 

Due to this vacuum, many African youths prefer to travel to other continents with huge employment opportunities coming from both the government and some private individuals. 

To buttress this point, it is salient to note that the highest employers in America (Walmart and Amazon) have employed millions of people, while companies in most African countries are still below 50,000 employees. This is the case of Cameroon's highest employer, CDC, with 22,000 employees. 

(II) High Wages Getting a job in Africa isn't different from climbing the Achilles heel, and when you get the job, you discover that the salary or wage isn't only exploitative but downgrading. 

Just imagine the minimum wage in Cameroon is 41.875 CFA while that of the US is 1.218 dollars, which is roughly 700,000 frs. This wide difference in wages is a natural push for the emigration of African youths to these countries with high wages. 

(III)Difference in Currency Value

Discrepancy in currency value is another pushing factor for emigration, as the currency value of many African countries is very low as compared to those of other continents. 

Let's take a look at the currency value of some countries outside of Africa compared to the French CFA used in Cameroon. 1 American dollar = 600 CFA, 1 Canadian dollar = 400 CFA, 1 Euro = 650 CFA and 1 United Arab Emirates dirham = 150 CFA. 

Based on these differences, it will be difficult for one to resist an opportunity to travel abroad because a person who earns just 500 dollars in America has about 300,000 CFA, which can buy a lot here in Cameroon, while a person who earns 500 CFA in Cameroon can only buy a bottle of juice. 

If I have to continue, we might never end, so let's take a break here and scan through the social causes of emigration. 

 (1 B) Social Causes of Emigration

 The social causes entail; to further studies and better health facilities. 

 (I)To Further Studies

Educational institutions in Africa are very complicated at the level of master's and PhD programmes. In most African universities, age is a prime factor for selection at the master's and PhD levels. 

This is the case of a state university in Cameroon where PhD candidates below 40 years aren't allowed to defend because they are deemed to be too young. Whereas in countries outside of Africa, students defend PhDs at the ages of 28 and 30. 

Again, many African governments honour certificates from abroad more than certificates obtained in their universities.

In Africa, it's difficult for a government to reject someone with a PhD from Harvard or Yale to take someone who has the same certificate from any of their universities. 

These circumstances and many others push many African youths to emigrate and further their studies abroad. 

(II) Better Health Facilities

 Due to embezzlement and negligence of some African leaders, most hospitals and health centres in most African countries are not up to standard, as they lack some necessary equipment to facilitate medical operations, and inability to pay medical personnel is also affecting our health system, as doctors can't do their job well without pay. 

This accounts for the regular strikes by medical practitioners in Africa in general and Cameroon in particular.

Again, the rule in most African hospitals is payment before service, while payment after service is the rule in hospitals out of Africa. 

A typical example is the defunct ObamaCare in the US, which was aimed at helping poor people who do not have money to pay for hospital bills.

In Africa and Cameroon in particular, such policies may only be visible in 2035, but before then, some youths have decided to take the road to countries with good health facilities because health is wealth. After looking at the economic and social causes, I think it will be good to end this part with political causes.

(C) Political Causes

 The political causes of emigration of African youths consist of: to escape violent conflict and to avoid political menace. 

 (I) To Escape Violent Conflict.

The recurrent occurrence of conflicts in Africa is a big push for emigration because the laws governing conflicts or wars are not respected as houses of civilians, hospitals and schools are targeted. In such conflicts, civilians suffer more than the conflicting soldiers. 

At the end of the day, civilians whose houses are burnt with their loved ones dead will have no option but to flee from a government that can't protect its citizens in times of war.

This is the case in Cameroon, where many youths in the Northwest and Southwest Regions of the country have fled because of fear of the unknown. 

 (II) Political Menace 

Politics in Africa is completely different from politics in other continents. During political campaigns on other continents, candidates and their supporters have the freedom of speech to talk down on the ills of the regime they met in power, and no judicial process can be taken against them. Political protests are allowed; people go scot-free with political protests. 

This is not the case in African countries in general and Cameroon in particular because some political rivals are threatened and imprisoned because of a statement they made or a political protest they organised against the regime.

This accounts for the reason why the African continent has the highest number of political prisoners. 

Due to the sham nature of our politicians, youths prefer to emigrate to countries outside of Africa where their political systems are liberal and there is less risk of imprisonment. 

After navigating through the reasons for emigration, let's look at some effects. Coming soon in part two of this work.

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Marks Abaiko, Secretary General Association of New Generation Authors