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Chasing the Cheetahs

More than 40 percent of Africa’s people are under 15—and they’re getting ready to change the way the continent works.

Demand is also growing for universities. The highly selective American University in Cairo, Egypt, has more than 80,000 students, but the nearby University of Cairo has 350,000—a small city. Some beginning classes there have as many as 7,000 students enrolled, and it isn’t uncommon to have several students with identical names. These aren’t classes, but conventions. Still, there aren’t enough schools to meet the demand. The problem of illegal colleges, a concern in many African countries, is a sign of the magnitude of the unmet need.

Universities and business schools are expanding across Africa. Guy ­Pfeffermann, director of the International Finance Corporation’s Global Business School Network, notes, "Stronger business schools can be important tools for contributing to economic growth in African countries. The new association will create opportunities for professional networking in three dimensions: North-South, South-South and perhaps most important, among African schools themselves."

Meanwhile, business schools in the U.S. and Europe are showing new interest in Africa, as they did in China and India several years ago. Top U.S. business schools are inviting faculty to their campuses, setting up African exchange and degree programs and holding alumni programs in Africa.

Even though a youth market holds promise for the future, certain dangers are inherent in having such young populations. Research by the citizens group Population Action International shows that 80 percent of the civil conflicts that broke out in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s occurred in countries in which at least 60 percent of the population is under 30. Almost nine of 10 such "youthful" countries had autocratic rulers or weak democracies. German sociologist Gunnar Heinsohn has proposed that countries are more likely to dissolve into civil war or other conflict once 30 percent of their populations are 15 to 29 years old.

Many serious problems affect youth too, including diseases and lack of hygiene, particularly among young women. High unemployment means many young people have trouble leaving home and ­establishing themselves in the world.

Still, despite these challenges, youth represent an important market. As Charles Mbire, who runs the Ugandan division of the cellphone company MTN, said of the youth market in an interview with Financial Times earlier this year, "I am a businessman. I am happy. My market is growing." The company has expanded to encompass 2.5 million subscribers since its start in 1999, and the average age of its users has dropped from 24 to 17.

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