The Brookings Institution

The global race for critical minerals is intensifying, offering immense opportunity—and risk—for Africa, home to some of the richest deposits. In this year’s Foresight Africa report, Ede Ijjasz-Vasquez, Landry Signé, and Vera Songwe explore how the continent can leverage this juncture and its deposits to create more high-quality jobs, develop an ecosystem of businesses in the mining value chain, and close the infrastructure gap to serve the mining sector and beyond.

Africa sits at the center of the global race for critical minerals—bringing both opportunity and risk. In our Foresight Africa report, read how the region can leverage this to create jobs, stronger mining ecosystems, and better infrastructure.

African youth are far less likely to vote compared to older populations—but more likely to protest. In the latest Foresight Africa report, Belinda Archibong examines how social media could help turn that energy into broader political engagement.

Just 41% of African youth, compared to 77% of older populations, reported having voted in 2022. While they are less likely to vote, protest participation is an exception—Africa’s youth are more likely to participate in protests relative to other age cohorts. In this year’s Foresight Africa report, Belinda Archibong explores if social media, the dominant source of news for Africa’s youth, can be leveraged to reverse these trends and encourage youth to be more politically engaged beyond protest.

Africa’s jobs challenge is about more than unemployment—it’s about creating enough high-quality work at scale. In our Foresight Africa report, Pierre Nguimkeu shows how five key assets—from a young workforce to digital growth—can drive large-scale, better job creation.

Africa’s youth not only need more jobs, but also better jobs—work that is productive, stable, safe, remunerative, and dignified.