New Biographies of Citizenship: Youth Civic Engagement in Africa

African youth are the most critical resource that the continent has in its quest for development and stability. Nevertheless, the rise of popular notions of youth apathy and disinterest require close examination of context-specific youth engagement. Few studies examine youth civic engagement from an African perspective, and researchers have done limited work summarising knowledge on this topic. Thus, the current study sought to synthesise African examples of youth-led civic engagement by reviewing empirical research published over the last seventeen years. An electronic search across ten databases yielded 3 017 studies, of which thirteen met the inclusion criteria. The findings indicate that young people engage in civic actions in response to social injustices and inequality stemming from socio-political challenges in their communities. In addition, the findings challenge the notion of ‘youth apathy’ by documenting young people’s unconventional civic actions that redefine what it means to be a citizen in Africa and localise civic engagement on the continent. The review offers a strength-based perspective on youth civic engagement in Africa and asserts the need for youth actors to adopt a bottom-up and youth-informed approaches to policymaking and programme development.