African Union (AU) must move beyond its longstanding description of young people as “leaders of tomorrow” and give them a formal role in shaping the continent’s present and future, honorary Ambassador to the Pan-African Parliament for the Diaspora, Abdou Samb, has said.

Samb, also President of the Abdou Samb Foundation, is advocating formal recognition for African youths, arguing that such a framework would give the continent’s young population a stronger voice in policymaking and decisions affecting their future.

He said the proposal was driven by the need to address what he described as the persistent exclusion of young Africans from key continental institutions and decision-making processes.

The proposal draws from the AU’s 2003 decision to recognise the African diaspora as the continent’s sixth region.

Samb said that while the move acknowledged the role and interests of Africans living outside the continent, a similar arrangement should now be created to ensure that young Africans have a structured voice within the Union.

According to him, the campaign gained renewed momentum on June 16 in Johannesburg, South Africa, where more than 1,000 young Africans reportedly backed the call for youth to be recognised as the seventh region.

He said the initiative was subsequently presented in Bujumbura, Burundi, during celebrations marking the 20th anniversary of the African Youth Charter, where it also received a favourable response.

Samb, however, warned that recognition without meaningful powers and resources would amount to little more than symbolism.

He argued that the experience of the African diaspora, recognised as the AU’s sixth region more than two decades ago, demonstrated that formal recognition alone could not guarantee influence unless it was backed by funding, institutional support, and real participation in decision-making.

Africa has one of the youngest populations in the world, with a median age of about 19. Yet Samb said young people remained significantly underrepresented in the institutions making decisions that would determine the continent’s future.

Samb rejected the argument that young Africans lacked the experience necessary to participate in leadership and governance.

He said competence, ability and merit should take precedence over age, political connections and personal networks when determining who gets opportunities to contribute to public leadership.

For the initiative to succeed, Samb said, it must translate recognition into concrete participation, resources and measurable results rather than becoming another symbolic declaration.