African Youth during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This book investigates the lived experiences of Africa's youth during the COVID-19 pandemic, tracing its impact on their mobilities, freedoms, and livelihoods. Bringing together diverse perspectives from across the continent, the book interrogates how African youth expressed their agency in urban spatial terms during the pandemic, by coping with, adapting, and responding to the deepening marginality, insecurity, inequalities and at the same time opportunities they faced. It further examines how young people navigated precarious spaces during the pandemic, and how the reaction of the state undermined or enhanced their experience. It also considers the question of gender and marginalised group dynamics, and discusses the pandemic's implications for peace, social justice, security, and human development in Africa. The strong empirical evidence presented in this book will be an important resource for researchers across African sociology, health, politics, and peace and conflict studies.

Ibrahim Bangura is an associate professor at the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies, Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone. He is a partner of Transition International, a consultancy firm based in the Netherlands and has worked extensively in the fields of youth, gender, transitional justice, disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration of ex-combatants (DDR), security sector reform, sustainable livelihoods and conflict resolution in Africa. He is a ROM expert who has assessed EU funded projects in more than 30 countries in Africa. Bangura holds a BA in Political Science and History, and Master's degrees in Gender and International Development Studies, and a Doctorate in Economics. Cyril Obi is the Programme Director for the African Peacebuilding Network and the Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa programme, bringing his extensive research, networking and publishing experience on African peace, security and development to the Council. After completing his doctoral studies in political science at the University of Lagos, he joined the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs. He was also awarded the Claude Ake Visiting Chair at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at the University of Uppsala. He led the research cluster on "Conflict, Displacement and Transformation" at the Nordic Africa Institute in Uppsala and serves on the editorial boards of several peer-reviewed journals. Irene D. Mngutyo is the Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Deputy Director of the Center for Research Management as well as a lecturer at the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Benue State University. Irene's research interests include urban design, architectural history, gender, migration and environmental studies. She holds a Master's in Architecture and a PhD in Urban and Regional Planning. She has over 60 academic publications and is a two-time fellow of the prestigious Next Generation Social Science in Africa Fellowship Programme of the SSRC. She has also been involved with several planning consultancy projects with international organisations such as UN Habitat.

1. Introduction: Youth, Urban Mobilities and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Emerging Trajectories for Peace and Development in Africa 2. Navigating a Complex Space: Youth, Urban Mobility and Marginality in COVID-19 Affected Sierra Leone 3. Ghana's Informal Sector 4. COVID-19 and the Emerging Trajectories of Peace and Development among the Youth in Urban Spaces in Uganda 7. Urban Unemployment, Youth Protest and Government Response in COVID-19 Affected Ethiopia 8. Negotiating Livelihoods in Pandemic Times: Experiences of Urban Youth in the Informal Economy in Harare, Zimbabwe 9. Gang Identities, Belonging and Territorialities: Temporalities and Embodied Practices in South Africa 10. Conclusion: Shifting From Business as Usual - Youth and the Future of Africa Postcript: The COVID-19 Pandemic, Youth and the Changing Dynamics of Peace and Security in Urban Africa