LET THE NUMBERS SPEAK!

According to the Business daily newspaper, the proportion of Kenya’s youth to the population is among the highest globally, presenting the economy with a vibrant workforce if put to productive use.

Kenya’s ratio of youth (aged 15-24) to the population stands at 20.3 percent, above the world’s average of 15.8 percent and 19.2 percent for Africa.

The millennials add up to 10.1 million out of Kenya’s population of 49.7 million, data from US-based Population Reference Bureau (PRB) shows.

“A high youth share means that the trajectory for population growth in coming decades will be strong,” said Peter Goldstein of PRB.

Ethiopia boasts the highest youth population share globally at 21.8 percent, or 22.8 million, while Bulgaria has the least at 9.1 percent.

At 20.3 percent, Kenya ties with Sudan but trails Uganda’s 20.5 percent youthful population. Nigeria, a populous country in Africa, has a youth share of 19 percent, despite having the largest pool of millennials at 36.4 million out of a population of 190 million.

South Africa’s stands at 18 percent while Egypt’s is 16 percent.

Experts point out that Kenya’s young workforce could present a labor dividend regarding productivity, innovation and consumer market growth with the availability of opportunities and nourishment of our nation`s citizens.

Governments, N.G. O`s and cooperates have to do something about retaining their smartest and most skilled youths who have been forced to look for opportunities abroad because of limited opportunities in Africa.

African nations struggle too hard to educate and equip doctors, environmental scientist, economists, engineers, I.T specialists and artisans who leave for abroad and go ahead to empower developed economies yet they leave their continent to suffer.

It`s time we change our mindset before losing the best minds and skills in Africa because millennials feel like they are growing in economies that don’t mind their general wellbeing of empowering its young citizens on all aspects of human development, Economic, social and mental wellness of the young and ambitious at heart sets every society to prosper.

Right now we are looking at a world where all major international footballers are of African descent yet Africa lags behind. Africa is being told that it is far from ever winning a world cup game on its own yet the teams that win the world cup are written Africa all over them.

Who said that Senegal, Nigeria, and Egypt could not win the world cup if our continent invested well in talent identification and development among its young citizens? Why do we force young aspiring footballers in Africa to dream about making it only in Europe?

We live in a world where three-quarters of the students in various colleges and universities hope to get a scholarship or work abroad someday. They believe that chances of making it in their own countries are almost nil especially due to the high levels of corruption, unemployment and lack of political will from our leaders to invest in the future of the youth.

We live in a country where our very own leaders have to travel abroad for standard treatment yet they are the ones who make the health policies that make medical treatment in our continent substandard.

We live on a continent where every top official or politician takes their kids to International schools and British systems, yet we hope for the same leaders to do something about uplifting our education sector.

We live in a continent where an engineer and architect will waste their six good years in university learning a skill that they will never get to practice fully because "the Chinese build better roads, buildings, and bridges."

We live in a continent where art and talent are never nurtured as long as you were born in a typical household where your parent will never understand the essence of a music school or a football academy, just because you have a voice and know how to kick a ball.

Truth be said, in the wake of the 21st century, African youths feel like the underdogs. We live hoping for a better tomorrow but we can no longer bank on our soil for food, prosperity, and growth and that is why we leave for greener pastures whenever an opportunity knocks.