Celebrating Africa Day isn’t enough — the continent’s future must be built

Across the continent, a defining reality confronts us: Africa has a rapidly growing young population. This is often framed as a challenge, and it is. But it is also one of the greatest opportunities of our time.

The question is not whether Africa has potential. The question is whether we will equip this and future generations to fully realise the enormity of it.

In recent weeks I have had the opportunity to engage with partners across the continent, from Stellenbosch to Luanda, and onwards to Zambia and Malawi. What stands out in every conversation is a shared urgency: the need to build the skills, knowledge and leadership that will define Africa’s next chapter.

Energy offers a powerful lens through which to understand this moment.

As Minister of Electricity and Energy Kgosientsho Ramokgopa recently reminded us during an engagement at Stellenbosch University, energy is “the oxygen that breathes life into the economy”. Without it, growth stalls. With it, opportunity expands.

But energy systems do not build themselves. They require engineers, scientists, policymakers and entrepreneurs. They require institutions that can train, support and inspire the next generation.

And this is where universities matter.

Across Africa, universities are not simply centres of learning, they are engines of development. They sit at the intersection of knowledge, innovation and public purpose. They shape not only what students know, but what they believe is possible.

At Stellenbosch University, we see this responsibility clearly. Through initiatives such as our Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies and our Faculty of Engineering, we are working alongside the government and industry to strengthen the skills pipeline needed for a rapidly changing energy landscape.

But this work cannot be confined to a single institution or even a single country.

The scale of Africa’s challenges demands collaboration. No university, no government, no sector can meet this moment alone. The future will be built through partnerships that cut across borders, disciplines and sectors.

This is particularly important as Africa positions itself within the global energy transition.

According to the International Energy Agency, Africa holds about 60% of the world’s best solar resources, yet accounts for only a small share of global installed solar capacity. This gap between potential and implementation is one of the defining development challenges of our time and one of its greatest opportunities.

If we do not build local expertise, we risk becoming consumers in a system we could help to lead.

We see this tension clearly in areas such as grid infrastructure, advanced manufacturing and nuclear energy, fields where the demand for highly specialised skills far outstrips current supply. Addressing this gap is not simply an economic imperative; it is a matter of long-term sovereignty.

The same applies beyond energy.

The recent announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa of national honours for two Stellenbosch University academics is a powerful reminder of what is possible when knowledge is cultivated and applied in service of society. Professor Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela has received the Order of the Baobab (Bronze) for her internationally recognised work on trauma, forgiveness and reconciliation. Professor Tulio de Oliveira received the Order of Mapungubwe (Gold) for his scientific leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Their work spans disciplines, but their impact converges on a single point: advancing society.

This is a reminder that the future will not be built by science or the humanities alone, but by the convergence of both.

We need scientists who understand society, and humanists who engage with science. We need leaders who can navigate complexity, think across boundaries, and act with both rigour and empathy. In short, we need a generation that is not only skilled, but also grounded in purpose.

This brings us back to Africa’s young people and the choices they will make about where to build their futures.

Graduates will stay, contribute and lead where there are real opportunities to do so – where institutions function, where innovation is supported and where their skills can be meaningfully applied.

If those conditions are absent, talent will move.

Africa’s future will be interconnected. Our economies, our energy systems, our research networks and our institutions will increasingly depend on one another. The idea of a shared African future is not an abstract ideal, it is a practical necessity.

And it is already taking shape.

From collaborative research initiatives to student exchanges, from joint infrastructure projects to shared policy frameworks, we are beginning to see the contours of a more integrated African knowledge and innovation ecosystem.

But we must move faster, and with greater intent.

On this Africa Day we should ask ourselves a simple but urgent question: what are we doing, today, to prepare the Africa of tomorrow?

Are we investing in basic and higher education at the scale required? Are we aligning our research with the needs of society? Are we building the partnerships that will sustain long-term growth? And perhaps most importantly: are we creating the conditions in which our young people choose to stay, and to build?

Africa does not lack talent. It does not lack resources. It does not lack ambition.

What it requires, now more than ever, is alignment: between vision and action, between knowledge and application, between potential and opportunity.

If we get this right, the story of Africa in the decades ahead will not be one of unrealised promise, but of shared progress.

The future is not something that will happen to us.

It is something we must build, together, with purpose. DM