Africa's Young are ready to take up leadership, but they need patience.

Kofi Annan

The challenge for Africa has always been a leadership crisis in the continent. There has never been a better time for the young in Africa to take up leadership positions, and endear themselves to the electorate. Africa is the world's youngest continent, and its average age is just 19 years. The continent boasts of  a rapidly expanding middle class that is widely exposed and ready to steer the Africa to the next direction. But how can the Africa's young make sure that they do take up leadership positions in the continent?

The young in Africa have never been at a poignant position to effect change. The Arab Spring in North Africa and the Middle East showed just a small group of disenfranchised youths bring down whole governments. However, for the youth to succeed, they must realize that their time to be Africa's leaders is now and not tomorrow. They must seek a civil means of engagement so that they can exert their huge numbers to effect change. While the concept of leadership has often been synonymous with old age in Africa, this is beginning to change. There are more young Africans coming up through the ranks, especially in the business sector. If young Africans such as MTN's RS Dabengwa are controlling billions of dollars in investments, how come they cannot be trusted with political leadership? If shareholders are entrusting Africa's young with billions of dollars in wealth, how come Africa's politicians are unable to do so.

However, age alone is not a predictor of leadership. Therefore, young Africans will have to be mentored, and stay in the right atmosphere for them to develop their leadership potential. Too often, many voters are skeptical since they can't differentiate between the younger leaders and the older leaders. In deed, some young leaders in the continent have engaged in the same looting as the older leaders. To such voters, there is nothing that necessarily indicates that the younger leaders are better than the older leaders.

Even though these allegations are well meaning and founded on facts, there are some very vocal young leaders whose voices have been buried deep in the clutter of noise. There are silent change makers in the continent who are continuing to do great things with absolutely no recognition. It is such leaders that we must identify and nurture. Too often, we have tended to silence these lone voices, and its time that we changed our approach to them, encouraged them, and gave them the proper tools for them to succeed as young leaders. After all, we would all benefit from a youthful leadership that is capable of creating a peaceful and prosperous continent, a continent that will be able to rise above the abyss of misrule, and safely enter the league of well governed states and regions.