A wave of economic optimism is sweeping through Africa’s youth. According to the African Youth Survey 2026, conducted by PSB Insights for the Ichikowitz Family Foundation, young Africans’ confidence in the direction of their national economies has risen sharply between 2024 and 2026, climbing from 26% to 45%. It marks the highest level of confidence recorded since the Covid-19 pandemic.
The biennial survey, released in Johannesburg, is the largest edition yet: researchers conducted face-to-face interviews in March 2026 with 4,901 young people aged 18 to 24 across 16 African countries, including Burkina Faso, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa and Zambia.
This rebound in economic confidence comes alongside a broader rise in optimism about the future, which jumped from 35% to 51% over the same period. At the continental level, 43% of respondents now believe Africa as a whole is moving in the right direction, up from 37% in 2024.
The improvement broadly tracks regional macroeconomic trends. The International Monetary Fund projects Sub-Saharan Africa’s economy to grow 4.3% in 2026, up from 3.2% in 2023, with 21 countries expected to post growth above 5%. Meanwhile, regional inflation has stabilized at around 9% this year, according to the World Bank, down sharply from 22% in 2024 its highest level since 1994.
Yet the continental average conceals sharp divergences between countries. Burkina Faso recorded the strongest confidence, with 83% of young respondents saying their economy is moving in the right direction, followed by Rwanda and Somalia at 79% and Ghana at 72%. At the other end of the spectrum, Mozambique posted the weakest sentiment, with 82% of young people saying their economy is heading in the wrong direction.
Ivor Ichikowitz, founder and commissioner of the survey, cautioned against reading the rising optimism as satisfaction with the status quo. « Do not mistake this optimism for satisfaction, » he said. « It is not a vote of confidence in the status quo. It is a warning. Young Africans still believe in this continent, but they are no longer prepared to confuse hope with patience while they struggle with the cost of living, unemployment, corruption and governments that too often talk about the future while excluding the very generation that will have to live in it. »
Despite the improved outlook, the survey found that the rising cost of living remains the single biggest concern for young Africans, ahead of political instability, infectious diseases and technological change. Some 56% of respondents said job creation should be governments’ top priority for improving security, with Ichikowitz noting that for Africa’s youth, « unemployment is not just an economic challenge it is a governance and stability challenge. »
The African Youth Survey is closely watched because it captures the sentiment of a predominantly young population — Africa being the youngest continent in the world — on issues that shape its economic and social future. A rebound in youth confidence can have concrete effects on investment, local entrepreneurship, and even patterns of economic migration, even as the same generation demands tangible delivery jobs, clean governance and accountability rather than promises.