Former President Goodluck Jonathan has urged African leaders to see the continent’s youth as a generational force for innovation, leadership, and global competitiveness rather than a burden.
The former Nigerian president spoke in a keynote address in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at the launch of a report titled ‘Advancing Inclusive Development: Policy Options for Burkina Faso, Guinea, Gabon, Mali, and Niger’.
The report was produced through a collaboration among the African Union Commission, the UNDP’s Africa Facility to Support Inclusive Transitions (AFSIT) and the Institute for Security Studies (ISS).
A statement issued on Saturday – yesterday, February 15 – by his Media Adviser, Mr Eze Ikechukwu, quoted President Jonathan as calling for investments in initiatives that positively impact young people.
“We must shift from seeing demographics as a challenge to embracing it as a strategic advantage. Our youth must be seen as an asset, not a burden,” Jonathan said, urging African nations to invest in education, digital infrastructure, and skills development to harness the potential of the continent’s youth for global competitiveness and leadership.
According to the former president, investing in education, digital infrastructure and skills development is no longer optional but imperative for Africa’s future prosperity and stability.
And while Africa remains the world’s youngest continent and a fast-growing economic frontier, it continues to struggle with deep-seated structural weaknesses, Jonathan lamented, citing these challenges to include governance deficits, political instability, economic fragility and the lasting effects of external shocks.
He advised African leaders to prioritise inclusion and economic empowerment to foster political stability and sustainable development across the continent, emphasizing that Africa’s future must not be left to chance but that governance must be rooted in legitimacy, inclusion and responsiveness to citizens’ needs.
To address instability, Jonathan urged leaders to take decisive action in building a strong, self-reliant and prosperous continent through wise governance and economic investment.
Warning that political stability cannot be sustained without trusted institutions, the rule of law, and leadership that derives its legitimacy from the people, Jonathan stressed that “We must invest in building responsive governance structures, fostering constitutional integrity, and ensuring that democracy delivers tangible benefits for all.”
He also called for profound economic transformation, noting that fragile states do not emerge solely from political crises but from economic exclusion and underdevelopment, pointing out that Africa’s economic future hinges on industrialisation, technology-driven growth, and regional trade integration to drive sustainable development.
At the same time, security must be re-imagined as developmental stability, requiring solutions beyond traditional military responses, Jonathan argued, urging African leaders to adopt a whole-of-society approach, tackling the root causes of conflict, such as poverty, marginalisation, and weak governance.
He described the launch of the report as a moment of reckoning and renewal, insisting that Africa must confront the stark realities facing parts of the continent, even as he encouraged African nations to embrace the report’s recommendations while strengthening regional cooperation to address shared challenges.
As Africa’s largest democracy and economy, Jonathan said Nigeria has both a responsibility and a privilege to lead by example and serve as a catalyst for continental progress.
Nigeria, he added, has embraced regional cooperation as a core foreign policy pillar, working through ECOWAS, the African Union, and global partnerships to promote peace and democracy, reaffirming Nigeria’s commitment to championing economic integration through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to drive regional prosperity.
“A united Africa is a stronger Africa — one that trades within itself, builds resilient supply chains, and creates African solutions for African challenges,” Jonathan surmised.
