Africa has the world’s youngest population, with over 60 percent below the age of 25, and a projected doubling of its youth population by the middle of this century. Young Africans, therefore, will significantly determine Africa’s growth trajectory and overall impact on the global economy, however, Africa’s youth are currently facing chronic and pervasive unemployment and/or underemployment.

In partnership with MSU’s Alliance for African Partnership (AAP), the Global Youth Advancement Network (GYAN) is helping to harness Africa’s youth potential for transformative development through research, capacity building, and skill development, and advocacy through The African Youth Transformation Platform (AYTP).

The African Youth Transformation Platform builds on MSU’s land-grant values and international engagement to transform the lives of African youth and their communities by elevating youth voices and agency, co-creating an enabling environment for youth to thrive, through entrepreneurship and community engaged scholarship that focuses on youth development outcomes.

Objectives

The AYT platform has four main objectives: to elevate youth voices and agency, facilitate research collaboration among AAP faculty and young African professionals, design and facilitate capacity building opportunities, and mobilize resources/build strategic partnerships for African youth initiatives. 

In order to meet these objectives, the platform has been developed around a core set of guiding principles. The platform works to promote relevance to Africa’s context and priorities by ensuring that all initiatives are carefully designed to account for the evolving social, economic, political, and cultural realities that African youth face. This includes aligning with and contributing clear value to the achievement of the African-conceived continental priorities as enshrined in the Sustainable Development Goals and African Union’s Agenda 2063, as well as building upon existing youth development policies and interventions such as the African Youth Charter, Youth Decade Plan of Action, and the Malabo Decision on Youth Empowerment.

The AYT platform also recognizes African youth are not just subjects of development but are entrepreneurs, innovators, and partners who are critical to advancing transformative change on the continent. Therefore, the platform will prioritize efforts that provide youth with space, skills, and resources to actively work with other stakeholders in co-creating solutions to challenges young people face. 

The AYT platform strives to foster long-term, equitable relationships among African youth, AAP/GYAN network partners, and relevant stakeholders in ways that facilitate knowledge sharing, collaborative research, and capacity building. Through intergenerational dialogue and collaboration, this platform will leverage the diversity among youth toward inclusive and transformational development, as well as building alliances and the capacity of African youth to influence policy.

Examples of Initiatives

In alliance with the goals and principles behind The African Youth Transformation Platform, AAP awards grants such as the PIRA Grants and the Transforming Institutions Strategic Funding Grants, as well as opportunities such as the Michigan Fellows Africa Initiative and The Advancing Young Women Agribusiness Entrepreneurs and Innovators Professional Fellows Program. 

In partnership with MSU's African Studies Center (ASC), AAP also hosts InVision Africa, a photography competition that seeks to showcase, inspire, and contribute to positive images of and stories about Africa in the context of research, innovation, and entrepreneurship, open to student photographers and students with an interest in photography from 10 African universities that are part of the AAP consortium. 

GYAN also coordinates various initiatives in support of the capacity building and skill development of Africa’s youth in accordance with The African Youth Transformation Platform (AYTP), including the Attached to the Soil Program, the COIL Faculty Fellows Program-Africa, the GARD Forum: Innovation Challenge, the International Youth Day: Innovation Collaboratory, and the Mandela Washington Fellowship Leadership Institute. 

In addition, GYAN provides ongoing support and mentorship to African Entrepreneurs. One example is the "Soft Skills Development for Conflict Management and Effective Collaboration" Project, aimed to empower African young leaders with practical tools for conflict management in both professional settings and local communities.