Demographic experts say that after Millennials, Gen Z and Gen Alpha, the first members of Generation Beta are being born this month. VOA spoke to African futurists on what they think will define life for General Bears on the continent, from AI to improved life expectancy and economic growth.
Labels such as Baby Boomers, Millennials or Generation Alpha are increasingly being used globally to describe people born at the same time, who often share similar experiences and challenges.
VOA spoke to African futurists and scientists to understand how Gen B, those born between now and 2039, can expect Africa to have changed by the time they reach adulthood.
Halidou Tinto is a scientist from Burkina Faso who is conducting cutting-edge research on a recently developed malaria vaccine. He says futurists believe that people born in Africa in 2024–2025 can reasonably expect that malaria will not be a major public health problem in the years to come, and especially as these children become adults.
According to the WHO, more than 200 million people in Africa suffer from malaria every year and half a million die from it. World Health Organization,
Malaria is especially fatal for children. According to UNICEF, the United Nations children’s agency, such improvements in public health will lead to a brighter future for children born in the years to come.
“Children born today are also less likely to die before their fifth birthday,” says Paul Quarles Van Ufford, UNICEF’s social policy advisor, adding that vaccination and disease management are one of the biggest progress stories in Africa. ” “Reduced poverty means child mortality has gone down.”
He says life expectancy in Africa has increased “rapidly” over the past 20 years. data from united nations It shows that if current trends continue, Africa’s life expectancy could reach 70 by 2050, compared to 61 years now.
Researchers in Kenya – who recently developed an Artificial Intelligence or AI chat bot to educate youth about HIV and AIDS – say the role of AI is going to grow in Africa.
Dr. Consolata Gaki of the University of Embu says, “Young people are using AI to solve social or local problems, from image processing to weather accuracy, a lot is happening in our country,” she said. ,
Jackie Cilliers, head of African Futures at the South Africa-based Institute for Security Studies, says Gen B’s relationship with technologies like AI will increase in the coming years.
“It’s a future of more freedom and more self-reliance, a future of innovation, a future in which technology will actually benefit the ordinary person and the relationship between technology and the individual, I think, is just going to happen every year. Have to expand,” he said.
Cilliers says the technology will allow greater access to the “gig economy” growing globally, meaning workers will become less dependent on the government.
He also says that the continent will pass an important milestone when members of Gen B become adults. For the first time, there will be more people of working age on the continent than those with dependents, such as children and the elderly. This could lead to an explosion in economic growth.
Although Africa faces many challenges, Generation Beta has a lot to be excited about.
