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- [00:05]
A
Welcome to Into Africa, a podcast where we explore Africa's geopolitical landscape, its evolving global role, and the challenges and opportunities shaping the continent's future. I'm your host, Oge Onborgu, Senior Fellow and Director of the Africa Program at the center for Strategic and International Studies Foreign. Thank you for listening to the first season of Into Africa. We're deeply grateful to the experts who joined us and shared their insights and perspectives with our audience. This season, we've taken on complex and urgent issues, from rising conflicts and humanitarian challenges to shifting geopolitics and the pressing questions shaping the continent. Alongside these conversations, our guests also pointed to something just as important, the momentum, innovation and resilience driving Africa forward. As we head into this break, we leave you with their reflections on what continues to inspire hope for them. We'll be back on June 18th with new voices and conversations on the forces shaping Africa's future. Until then, thank you for listening to Into Africa.
- [01:31]
B
I'm hopeful for the digital revolution to be transformative in the sense that it solves a lot of persistent questions, not just in terms of having new apps, but solving issues like farm management, solving issues like complex logistics, solving issues like E governance. I'm really hopeful that we'll make some progress there.
- [01:59]
C
What I'm hopeful for in 2026 is that we actually have the possibility to seize Africa's transformative potential across different sectors. I think we're going through a transitional moment on the continent, whether you speak of tech, energy, industry, youth and all of those. And if we can harness the potential in this transformative opportunities, it could be a catalytic space or year on which to build going forward.
- [02:30]
D
What I'm hopeful about is the youth in the region. I've interacted with quite a number of them through my organization, continue to support them through these dialogue sessions and giving them a platform to actually speak up and get involved in political processes in their countries. And I think the youth offer a great hope. The youth are more interconnected because of social media and the digital infrastructure that is now available to them. We have seen them changing how they think about conflict, how they think about clan, integrating much more closely, picking up lessons from across borders. So I do hope that the youth could change the pathways that we see, could not be involved in the conflicts that could come up. So for me, that gives me hope.
- [03:12]
E
Well, Samira, I fully agree with you. I find what glimmers of hope there are, frankly, in the desires of the people of the Horn of Africa and especially the women and youth that you referred to for Peace. And as they say in Sudan, peace, freedom and justice. I think there's only so long that the will of an overwhelming majority of people can be ignored and suppressed. So that is, I guess, the long term hope.
- [03:39]
B
The only thing I can tell you is this, that most people in Nigeria, except the few who are in the corridors of power and who have access to massive resources, are complaining that they are very difficult and they are looking forward to a change. Now I'm sure many of the people who do sing, they are singing these things now, they are not giving up hope because we cannot live without hope.
- [04:00]
F
Now I must say that I've seen young people coming together, you know, doing songs about building the country and uniting the young people. The potential for Nigeria, oh yeah, as you know, is great. In the next 25 years, Nigeria is going to be over 400 million, is going to be the third largest country in population after India and China. And as you know, in 25 years, Africa would have the youngest population. The mean age would be 19, Europe would be close to 40. Asia would start aging. I mean, it would be getting to 30. And therefore Africa has that potential for the future. And because of the resources in Africa, which are now stolen or wasted or whatever, you know, with good governance that would bring education and provide jobs to young people, we are going to be the engine of the world for the next century.
- [04:59]
G
I think I'm most hopeful, even when I think of EGPAF and all that we've gone through as an organization and similar to what other organizations have gone through, is this is my theory, that if we sustain our commitment and protect the systems that have protected us, have supported us for years in the African continent, do you know we can get to a generation of zero pediatric HIV infections? That is amazing. And that can be done in the next five years. That would be amazing. And that's what we're working towards.
- [05:30]
H
The last point I'd make, which maybe we should have made earlier, is, yeah, the golden era is over. But the 25 years of the golden era created enormous expertise within Africa. Yeah, and that expertise is there. And you're seeing it expressed in the midst of this crisis and this transition into this new era. We are seeing experts come forward all across Africa with an enormous body of experience and expertise. I mean, yesterday you came, Doris, to the book of Ann with Kevin de Kock. When you read that book, it's full of all of these stories about the amazing people that he worked with over many, many years. And I took that as the kind of proof of this These centers of excellence that have emerged through this investment, they're not going away. And that's what gives me a lot of hope in this period in terms
- [06:28]
I
of the ERR and their responso. I really like think about these young heroic people is that they will manage their own business without any need of support. For the four years we learned that these young people could actually survive and they can manage without any foreign support. What we learned is that the resilience of them, their continuation of support, is something that I think will continue despite international efforts. But as Sudanese, as African, I think what we need to think about is, is how we can improve these efforts, right? How we can like do more training, more access to international financial institutions. So, for example, like the diaspora sending money to Sudan, how we can make this easier for them where there is no Internet connection, it's a game changer for them. So we still have room to play as Africans, as local Sudanese, to increase our kind of, you know, visibility. And I think, yeah, this podcast is the right step to do right, to highlight these people and to call for all African diaspora to support and to show that we can still make some room for these solutions to grow.
- [07:41]
J
I think it's a tricky time, but in terms of my hope is that the challenges that we're facing and in some ways some of the policy frameworks that the US is walking away from will necessitate a real sort of period of reflection and building anew. I mean, in many ways I think that the US and many countries around the world have been coasting for decades on a far reaching international system that was in large part built by the US in the aftermath of World War II. And there are many ways in which that system had faults and cracks, but there were also many ways in which that led to prosperity, not just for the U.S. but for many partners around the world. And I think that rather than coasting, we actually need to pay attention to that. And that's what's coming as a result of the inflection point that we're in. And I have hope for that, for building sort of a renewed sense of cooperation and interdependence. The interdependence is there, whether we like it or not. It's currently being weaponized, for example, in the Straits of Hormuz. So we need to find ways to actually leverage our interdependence in positive ways as well.
- [08:49]
K
In terms of what gives me hope, I think innovation is accelerating, right? From local leadership to new financing models, to new products, to new access information and communities are already driving their own solution. So I feel like that mixture of that innovation coming on and people's propensity to adapt it to their needs is quite encouraging. I'm also encouraged by the resilience that I've seen within African people and communities. That resilience to survive and that resilience to grow and that resilience to dream of bigger and better is there. And so I think that driven by just the number of young people who are stepping up and demanding that their voices being heard and leading the change, it's quite important and it's the hope that we build on. It's a continent of people and ideas that will never give up and that will continue to shine bright despite all the obstacles. And I'm just looking forward to see what emerges next.
- [09:56]
A
Thanks for listening to Into Africa. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe wherever you listen to your podcast. You can find more analysis from the Africa Program on our website CSIS.org or find us on social media. Search for SISAfrica on X, LinkedIn and Instagram.