Francis Ben Kaifala's Incisive Speech "Retracing the Sankara Dream for youths in Africa" in Makeni

Speech Delivered by Francis Ben Kaifala, Commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission of Sierra Leone at the International Youth Summit in the Unimak Auditorium, Makeni, Sierra Leone, On 15th January, 2021.

2. Over Thirty years ago, Africa had the possibility to change its destiny thanks to one man, a revolutionary, the African version of Che Guevara, Thomas Sankara, who led Burkina Faso from 1983 to 1987.

3. Thomas Sankara drastically reduced expenses of the state apparatus which up to that point absorbed 70% of the budget; those suspected of corruption were fired. The blue cars were abolished, Sankara arrived at ministerial meetings by bicycle. “We cannot be the rich ruling class of a poor country” he loved to repeat. The foreign heads of states visiting Burkina Faso, were not received in the presidential palaces but in the poor villages of the country. One of the targets of Sankara was to give dignity once again to the neglected peasants. In order to do this, he adopted unpopular political measures such as increasing the prices of agricultural products and introducing customs duties, his mission was to achieve alimentary self-sufficiency.

4. In the revolutionary program of Sankara, the women played an important and somewhat atypical role for an African country. In 1985 he launched the campaign against genital mutilation, he introduced divorce which could be requested by the woman without the consent of her husband – in a predominantly Islamic country, feminine participation in the political life achieved unhoped levels and encouraged exercise and healthy living as a national programme. He believed that youth and young people were the engine of state transformation. He was a through revolutionary youth.

5. On 15th October 1987, the revolutionary experience was interrupted. Thomas Sankara was killed in an organized ambush by his close friends. Today, Burkina Faso has returned to being “a normal” country. Spreading corruption, expenses of the State have returned to previous levels of growth, as has the national debt. The Sankara dream of a non-reliant but self-sufficient country and continent was lost. However, Sankara is still a very strong figure in the collective African imagination. The changes dreamed by him are indeed possible in all of you. As you all gather here today, you have an opportunity to retrace the Sankara dream for your respective countries.

6. Africa is potentially the richest continent in the world. Yet, that is all what African has mostly been about since independence. Yet, Africa is particularly famous for its riches in raw materials. Yet, it seems that is all what we are about, an Africa of potentials and raw materials. When will Africa transform into being the finished product? How do African countries move from what Franz Fanon described as the “wretched of the earth” to equals of the great nations of the world?

7. One-third of Africa’s nearly 420 million youth aged between 15-35 are unemployed and discouraged and only one in six is in wage employment, according to the African Development Bank.

8. With regard to employability, according to the African Development Bank report, by 2050 Africa will be home to 38 of the 40 youngest countries in the world, with median populations under 25 years of age. This will result in an estimated 10-12 million new people joining the labour force each year. These statistics clearly indicate that a considerable amount of investment must go into human development to unlock a demographic dividend.

9. Currently, less than 10 percent of African students are enrolled in higher education, and of those that pursue post-basic education, less than 30 percent major in science, medical care, information and communications technology, and engineering.

10. According to the African Economic Outlook 2017 report, Africa’s growing population is expected to generate a rise in consumer spending from $680 billion in 2008 to $2.2 trillion in 2030. The growth in Africa’s population and increased spending presents a huge opportunity for entrepreneurial innovations and ideas to be implemented to accelerate greater prosperity.

11. As many as 60% of 18 to 34-year-olds on the continent who took part in a joint study by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) and Youth Business International (YBI) were optimistic about the availability of good business opportunities, and believed they had the skills and knowledge to start a business.

12. This compares to just over 17% of young people in the European Union, almost 17% in Asia Pacific and South Asia, and around 30% in North America. The only other region that came close to Sub-Saharan Africa’s optimism was Latin America and the Caribbean, where 40% of the youth believed they had the opportunities, skills and knowledge to start a small business, according to the January 2015 report, “Understanding the entrepreneurial attitudes, aspirations and activities of young people”.