According to the organisers, African youth are dealing with the same challenges as adults: identity, HIV/AIDS, unemployment and economic poverty. Speak Africa offers African youth opportunities to articulate and share their views on these issues. The project aims to use voices, words and images to offer insights into what young people across Africa are doing to make their world better. Through dialogue facilitated by youth activist artists (musicians, visual artists, poets), entrepreneurs and cultural icons, youth in urban and rural locations across Africa, exchange opinions, experiences and challenges about their daily lives.

Speak Africa believes that through these activities and by working together, young people can access policy and lawmakers with a coherent and more powerful voice. Through partnerships with the mass media, private partnerships and civil society endorsement, the Speak Africa initiative also aims to create networks and platforms for expression. The project is for example working with media partners who are helping to train young people to be Speak Africa reporters.

The first event of the project was the Genesis event, which took place in Ethiopia in March 2006. The Genesis brought together youth activist artists from South Africa - Zola, EJ von Lyrik, Channel O DJ KB with artists from Ethiopia - Jonny Raga, Jorga Mesfin and Absezash Tamerat. They led discussions with youth from cities, towns and rural villages with the aim of creating dialogue among youth and taking youth concerns to decision makers.

Speak Africa also took part in the Africa Development Forum taking youth concerns to the decision makers at the Forum.

Youth, HIV/AIDS, Economic Development, Population.

Speak Africa aims to achieve the following:

• empowerment through expression;
• information through sharing and exchange;
• education through exposure to progressive leaders in Africa;
• access to influential power sources;
• transformation through articulate intervention and solution oriented activism.

Youth across Africa have a vital role to play in Africa’s future. Estimates predict that over 75% of Africa’s population will be under 25 by 2015. Today, African youth account for 45% of the total labour force.