The Gen Z impact through eyes of an African grandmother in the village.
“20 years ago, that is the best time to have planted a tree. And the second best time to plant a tree is today.”
It’s easy to see the relevance of this well-known African proverb with the Gen Z Activism of Kenya. The future belongs to those who are on their way there. As the youth of Africa, in the diaspora and at home, prepare for their future, let’s imagine that their hearts are filled with a fire for change.
They deserve quality education and to live in a society that promotes justice and equity with every reason to embrace the richness of their cultural heritage. Can we consider the influence of the Gen Z Activism that is shaking Kenya, and its impact in Africa? Indeed, it has powerful implications for education and the business in Africa.The Backdrop: Envision in your mind, a typical village classroom filled with bright vibrant and young people in their quest for knowledge.
They are not blank slates nor are they empty pots. The Teacher is the accepted link of all things academic. These students come from various homes with values from families, and are aware of their culture and tradition. The experiences of their young lives should not be erased.
Let me introduce 7 year old Amani whose name means peace in Kiswahili, and is now extremely curious about the digital world. With the buzz of The Gen Z Activism, all Amani knows is that only Mama Kabi who can offer an explanation of what is going on. Mama Kabi is Amani’s grandmother. In her own way, Mama Kabi helps Amani make sense of the impact of technology. First, she falls back on traditional wisdom. She helps Amani see the power of the Gen Z Activism as a force for powerful change.
Amani now can accept adversity as everything that is going wrong. For instance, living in the village, not knowing the daily dose of love and affirmation from Mommy and Daddy. To Amani, the Gen Z wave is like the wise baobab tree standing tall and strong against the wretchedness of life. Mama Kabi explained, through storytelling, how technology is an essential tool for learning, broadcasting and promoting justice while amplifying injustices.
Amani is learning to make sense of the fact that the use of technology can promote a more sustainable and equitable society. For Amani, the future should be bright with access to education of a high standard and with opportunity to celebrate and preserve a community’s cultural wealth. Over several daily discussions, Mama Kabi gives Amani an amazing tapestry of lessons woven with tradition and innovation. This easily helps Amani create a vibrant mental picture of an unfolding world of hope and promise for all.
Mama Kabi understands that transformation of technology is a powerful way of empowering young Africans, even at age 7, Amani is now asking questions and seeking understanding. It’s interesting how the Gen Z, as students, had exposure to digital learning resources and now have access to global learning communities. The Gen Z are using the digital spaces to express their creativity through their interpretations of art, music, fashion and promote business ideas and so forth. According to Mama Kabi, the Gen Z have a strong sense of interconnectedness, valuing culture and tradition yet not trapped by notions that seemly negate fundamental human rights. The Gen Z have found a way to navigate around limitations of cultural and religious fences.
They advocate equitable opportunities, access and progress for all. ‘Sharing is caring’, that is how Mama Kabi narrated the concept of collaboration to Amani. The spirit of collaboration has emerged from of art and music. Earlier on, the song ‘Mwaki’ hit the international music scene. Quick internet search : Mwaki,” the urgent progressive house track from Brazilian producer Zerb and Kenyan singer Sofiya Nzau, has been a dance world sensation since its release in November 2023. Yes, Amani danced to that song with Grandma Kabi. Just like that, total strangers, Sofiya and Zerb, digitally stumbled onto a new creative expression blending tradition and contemporary influences.
The Mama Kabi’s Tips: Amani knows that the Gen Z are known for being tribeless, fearless and leaderless. Mama Kabi adds that they are also faceless and not careless. In her view, the Gen Z will affect the world of work, the business sector and impact the economy. Mama Kabi has a few ideas to share with key stakeholders because she is thinking of her precious grandchild, Amani. This is what is in Mama Kabi’s mind: Amani’s agemates, across African, must be set up for success. Education must be big on the deliberate digital transformation and cultural assimilation. Somehow, cultural components such as art, games and storytelling need to find their way into the curriculum.
This should be a constant and not just for national competitions and festivals held in Term 2 as is the case in Kenya. Secondly, poverty and disadvantage be not be words used to describe any child’s life. Mama Kabi does her best to give Amani a comfortable life. She can’t imagine Amani with any less. Her prayer is that those placed in the high seats of authority do much more than identify and highlight the challenges facing the marginalized people. In this age of advanced technology, it cannot be impossible to design culturally relevant content and promote inclusive learning so that children who are visually impaired, like Amani, who has very low vision and loss of hearing in one ear, are not seen as cursed.
Mama Kabi speaks for many when she says, “I need to see celebration of diversity!”The Gen Z has emerged powerfully on the Kenya scene. Their counterparts are emerging in Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon with different levels of success. Mama Kabi sees no reason why African businesses cannot take the hint to embrace The Gen Z. After all, they are jobless and have nothing to lose, yet can be creatively engaged. The business world have a rare gift on a platter- to engage the Gen Z and get innovate solutions to Africa’s major areas of stagnation- education, agriculture and health sectors. Trust the Gen Z to contribute to and lead in a knowledge based economy.
Exploring how to create opportunities for support cultural entrepreneurship and foster relevant skills development cannot be rocket science. It should be easy to promote design thinking and critical thinking approaches amongst the students in Africa. As Mama Kabi has mentioned many times before, nobody has taken time to explore Amani’s reality, or hopes and dreams.
It is as though Amani’s fate is already sealed. If Mama Kabi had the audience of the big business guys of Africa, she would shoot this shot- business leaders to partner closely with educational institutions to develop programs where the youth are empowered to be advocates of change, and see where this goes. The Gen Z Activism is the Digital Boabab that is vividly created in Amani’s mind. Mama Kabi can see clearly now that the Gen Z wave is blowing. She turns this vision over to the political and economic leaders of Africa and dares them to harness the talent and energy of the Gen Z.
