Invest in people to transform slums

Kibra youth pelt police with stones during the Azimio la Umoja antigovernment protests. [Denish Ochieng, Standard]

Africa has the youngest population, with 70 per cent of sub-Saharan Africa under the age of 30, according to United Nations 2021 data.

With a population of over 1.4 billion people, it means close to 1 billion are youth. Suffice to say, this is an opportunity for the continent's growth, but only if these young brains are fully empowered to realise their potential.

As a young man from Kibera slums, I have seen what youth can do when they have no hope. Most of the time, many decision-makers don't believe what the youth can do.

In desperate cases, some youth go to political rallies not for the message but to snatch phones on their way home or break into a grocery shop to pick some foodstuff or boutiques to steal. Last week, I was in South Africa where I visit the youth in the townships and their problems are the same as those faced by their Kenyan counterparts. Recently, I was in Makoko slum in Nigeria and the challenges were the same.

The youth are yearning for opportunities that are not there. Youth account for 60 per cent of Africa's jobless, and the situation is worse in slums, where according to a UN-Habitat report of 2020, over 48 per cent of urban crime was instigated by youth from informal settlements.

This topic is more important now than ever before because the cost of living is high, population is increasing while rural-urban migration is fast. The urban centres are populated with anger and frustration.

Africa is tipping towards an uprising that will be caused by these frustrated youth, and I believe it will start in the slums. It will not have a leader; It will happen spontaneously and the wealthy will be affected the most. For us to silence the guns, the youth need opportunities.

We cannot live in a country where a few have a lot and the majority have nothing or have no idea where their next meal will come from. The poor watch the wealthy flying, driving fuel guzzlers and visiting fancy places around the world.

How often do you ask your house help or security guard how their families are doing? Most of these people live in slums but we just pass them and go yet we trust them with our children and homes.

The poor have been ignored. They see a lot of food being wasted on social media by the rich. They see those in power creating positions for themselves and their cronies, they see the old guard getting positions and yet they are being told there are no opportunities. I am worried because we are sitting on a timebomb.

There was looting in Johannesburg at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. The riots in Nigeria christened #EndSARS - the mass action calling for a ban of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigerian police force.

In Ethiopia, people took to the streets to bring regime change. This is just the tip of the icebag. The youth in slums are suffering and we don't know for how long they will hold.

Soon, you will not enjoy driving your car. You will have to erect big walls to protect yourself from them. That is what happens if the society forgets what Africans were all about. Helping each other, sharing food; simply put in African culture, no one would die because of lack of food but now, it is everyone for themselves.

In this regard, government must invest in slums, youth groups and work with local organisations like Shofco.

They should also provide monthly stipends for youth, ensure health centres are working, garbage collection is streamlined, the Kadogo economy is formalised and not taxed too much.

Government should provide education and jobs, come up with policies guiding companies to cushion the urban poor and corporates supporting this group should be exempted from some taxes.

Transformation in slums is not about building new houses but investing in people. That is how you fight class war.

The writer is founder and CEO of Shofco, a member of USAid Advisory Board