A wave of youth-driven activism, creativity and political consciousness is sweeping across African countries, with young people from Generation Z, leading calls for reform, accountability and better governance.
Findings by Saturday PUNCH revealed that the revolution, driven largely through social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, and Instagram, is being championed by digitally savvy and socially aware youths.
After recently ending in Asia, Nepal, the outbreak is now spreading in Africa, with Madagascar and Morocco following suit.
The Generation Z-driven movement gained traction after a new generation of young Kenyan protesters, forced the government to back down on high tax proposals.
What started as anger on TikTok about a controversial finance bill snowballed into a revolt without being organised by political parties.
Hundreds of trainer-wearing protesters, who felt Kenyans were already overtaxed with little to show for it, braved tear gas fired by police to march through the capital, Nairobi, bringing the city’s central business district to a standstill.
Armed with their smartphones, they live-streamed the intense confrontations with officers.
As time went by, the government of President William Ruto withdrew the controversial finance bill.
Similarly, in Asia, the government of Nepal blocked 26 media sites, including WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube, in a bid to tackle misinformation, fraud and hate speech.
The ban sparked mass protest by Gen Z, and fed into long-standing economic woes. It escalated, with parliament and key government buildings set ablaze, although, at least 51 protesters were killed.
Nepal’s former chief justice, Sushila Karki, was appointed to lead the transition as the country’s next prime minister after deadly protests ousted the government of Sharma Oli.
In late September 2025, Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina sacked his government following deadly protests against repeated water and electricity outages across the Indian Ocean nation.
The days of protest, led mostly by young demonstrators, claimed at least 22 lives and left more than a hundred people injured, according to a United Nations tally.
At the same time in Morocco, hundreds of young protesters have taken to the streets across Morocco in what has been described as some of the country’s largest anti-government demonstrations in years, seeking better government services as well as an end to corruption.
The protests, organised by a grassroots movement calling itself GenZ 212, spread to at least 11 cities, including Casablanca, Rabat, Marrakech and Agadir which also used platforms including TikTok, Instagram and the gaming application Discord.
Reacting to the matter, former Nigerian Ambassador to Mexico, Ogbole Amedu-Ode, said African governments should create opportunities for young people to thrive.
He added that if a conducive environment was established for youth to prosper economically, there would be no need for protests.
Amedu-Ode stated, “The governments across the African continent should do the needful. They should engineer an economy and a country that provides meaningful employment for the teeming youth.
“An economy that caters for their ambitions should be created, especially their legitimate ambitions. This will curb Gen Z’s protest.”
Also, a former Nigerian Consul to Cameroon and ex-Director of Trade and Investment at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rasheed Akinkuolie, said the agitations of young people in Africa was a result of idleness and lack of job opportunities.
He stated that the open market policy, deregulation of the economy, privatisation, devaluation of currencies adopted by several African countries were inimical to economic development job creation, industrialisation and better living conditions of the people.
Akinkuolie noted, “An idle hand is the devil’s workshop. African governments must think out of the box, and adopt policies, which are in the best interest of the continent The adoption of IMF policies, sail and sinker are unhelpful, too harsh and clearly not working. African governments must invest heavily on education, especially technical education which will make young people employable.
“African governments must leverage on the vast arable lands of the continent to increase food production, add value to cash crops and mineral resources before they are exported. African governments should study closely, and adopt some of the social and economic policies of the government of Burkina Faso, which are focused on the welfare of the people.”
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