First Kenya, then Madagascar and now Morocco. A wave of protests under the banner of Gen Z has swept through parts of Africa.
Demonstrators have stormed Parliament buildings. Security forces have killed and injured hundreds, and in Madagascar the president fell from power on Tuesday.
Each protest has had specific causes, but under the surface each reflects the failure of elected governments to provide economic opportunities for young people across a continent with the youngest population in the world, according to protesters and analysts.
The frustration among young people poses a challenge to governments beyond where Gen Z protests have taken place, not least because of the continent’s young demographic. Africa’s median age is 19, which means that young people are entering the workplace and becoming politically active in large numbers.
Young voters in Botswana last year helped defeat the party that had ruled since independence, while in South Africa discontent among young people with the economic performance of the African National Congress helped cause its vote share to fall below 50 percent for the first time since the end of apartheid in 1994.
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