MTN group chairman: Invest in African youth or risk conflict

The Chairman of MTN Group, Mr Mcebisi Jonas, has warned that Africa’s large youth population could become a source of conflict without adequate investment.

Jonas gave the warning on Monday in Johannesburg while addressing Nigerian fellows of the MTN Media Innovation Programme (MIP 5).
 
He spoke on “Africa: Geopolitical and Economic Outlook and the Case for Continental Integration” during the fellows’ study visit to MTN Group headquarters.
 
Jonas said the continent must urgently invest in education, digital skills, and job creation to turn its youths into an economic asset rather than a liability.
 
He added that without opportunities, frustration among young people could fuel instability.
 
“Africa’s youthful population was one of the continent’s major economic advantages, alongside its abundance of critical minerals.
 
“Demographic growth will only become an asset if governments invest in education, skills development and economic inclusion.
 
“If we do not do something, it can become the opposite,” Jonas said.
 
He said the continent needed a deliberate strategy to strengthen education, skills and human-capital development to enable young Africans participate meaningfully in economic activities.
 
“Something has to be done. It is like you are sitting with stones which are gold or copper that you do not know are gold or copper and you do nothing,” he said.
Jonas warned that failure to equip young people with relevant skills could worsen socioeconomic challenges across the continent.
 
“If you do not do it, that is going to be our problem. This is the fit stock for populism – all the things that you have, war, conflict, and so on,” he said.
 
He said Africa’s mineral resources and growing consumer population represented significant sources of leverage in an increasingly multipolar global economy.
 
The MTN chairman, however, warned that African countries could lose that leverage when negotiating separately with external powers.
 
“The challenge that the continent has is that in order to play on those advantages, we need a different continent, governments and leaders,” he said.
 
Jonas said African leaders must act collectively through regional and continental institutions to achieve greater influence.
 
“If we are to be effective, we have to act as a collective,” he said.
 
He urged Africans to overcome national rivalries and develop a stronger sense of continental identity to advance integration.
 
Jonas said trade integration should include movement of people, not only goods.
 
“Trade agreement is not just movement of goods. It is also movement of people. We must appreciate that,” he said.
 
He identified the African Continental Free Trade Area as an opportunity for greater economic collaboration among African countries.
 
Jonas said the mindset remained a major obstacle to deeper continental integration.
 
“The trap we are in is a mental one, is a mindset one. That is until you break the mindset trap,” he said.
 
On whether Africa needed stronger leaders or institutions, Jonas said both were important, but warned against strong leadership without strong institutions.
 
“The danger is, if you have strong leaders without institution, that can literally swing toward dictatorship very quickly,” he said.
 
“We build institutions. Without institutions there is no development,” Jonas added.
 
He also called for greater civic education on elections and citizens’ rights, saying many Africans remained insufficiently aware of their rights.
 
The MTN chairman urged journalists to protect the profession from political and economic capture.
 
“Journalism, once it is captured and serves interests of an elite, political and economic elite, journalism can be dangerous,” he said.
 
Jonas called for journalism that speaks for disadvantaged groups and contributes to social progress.
 
He said MTN’s growth and success were closely connected to development in African countries where it operates.
 
“MTN cannot thrive if Africa does not thrive. We are so embedded in the continent. Our DNA is Africa,” he said.
Jonas urged the fellows to become “selfless thinkers” who could contribute to Africa’s development beyond narrow national interests.
 
Earlier, MTN Group Chief Sustainability and Corporate Affairs Officer, Ms Nompilo Morafo, said journalism was important in shaping society.
 
“We started it because we think journalism is important. It has a role to shape society, especially in these trying times for Africa,” she said.