Obama: Africa must create more jobs to stifle unrest among youth

Closing a historic visit to Africa, President Barack Obama on Tuesday urged the continent’s leaders to prioritise creating jobs and opportunity for the next generation of young people or risk sacrificing future economic potential to further instability and disorder. He said the “urgent task” of generating jobs for a population that is expected to double to around 2 billion people in the coming decades will be “an enormous undertaking.” But he said it can be achieved with U.S. help. “Africa will need to generate millions more jobs than it is doing now,” Obama said in a speech to the entire continent delivered from the headquarters of the African Union, a member organisation of African nations.

The choices made today will shape the trajectory of Africa - and therefore the world - for decades to come.

President Barack Obama

It was the first speech to the AU by a sitting American president.The speech marked the end of Obama’s five-day visit to Africa that included an earlier stop in Kenya, homeland of his late father. Obama also called on Africa’s leaders to make their countries more attractive to foreign investment by cleaning up corruption, upholding democratic freedoms, supporting human rights, and willingly and peacefully leaving office when their terms expire. Obama, who is more than halfway through his second and final term, said “I just don’t understand” the phenomenon of leaders who refuse to step aside when their terms end. “And, frankly, I’m looking forward to life after being president. It will mean more time with my family, new ways to serve, and more visits to Africa,” he added.

There’s still so much I want to get done to keep America moving forward. But the law is the law and no one is above it, not even presidents.

President Obama

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