Kenyan Youths Feel Economy is Heading in the Wrong Direction

Kenya is among 10 African Countries where young people (Gen Z) feel the economy is heading the wrong direction.

When asked to describe how they feel about the future of their country, nearly two in five youths (37%) in Africa reported feeling ‘optimistic’ or ‘excited’, a five-point increase from 2022.

Youths in Rwanda and Côte d’Ivoire expressed particularly high levels of positivity towards the future of their country. For these markets, this sentiment permeates throughout most areas within this study, as youths consistently respond with positive views about key issues in their countries.

However, while positive perceptions about the future of their country have begun to rebound post-COVID-19, over two in five (43%) are less positive and this has stayed level from 2022 (42%). Some of Africa’s largest and key economies such as Nigeria (54%), South Africa (54%), and Kenya (61%) are among the most pessimistic or concerned about the future.

Nigerian youths in particular consistently express high levels of concern, dissatisfaction, and general negativity towards current conditions and issues in the country. Major issues include the rising cost of basic commodity, food and fuel prices, and headline inflation caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

African economies have been struck with low growth post-pandemic. Unfortunately, economic expectations predict growth in Africa to remain weak but stable in the context of economic challenges, climate issues, and geopolitical instability.

While levels of negativity remain high, the majority of youths are concerned (34%) rather than pessimistic (9%) about the future of their country. This indicates that youths have not resigned themselves to expect the worst about the long-term trajectory of their country and still believe that things can be turned around.