**Chapter review activity**

*Tourism*

**CASE STUDY 1**

**Notes/Thanks/Other declarations**

**Appendices and Nomenclature**

**AFRICA'S YOUNG LEADERS FACE A TESTING 2020**

long civil war, previously dominated politics.

for the reform process," Vines said.

Thank you to Tebogo Ramoneng, Tumelo Rampheri and Zime Mzelemu.

Politicians in their 30s and 40s face huge hurdles in sweeping away decades-old

regimes. After several years during which younger leaders have come to power across Africa, 2020 could hold challenges that may force many of the newcomers to take a step back. Not all the young politicians are progressive, or even prodemocracy. Nevertheless, they are all representative of sweeping changes across the continent that have destabilised long-standing regimes and forced out some veteran leaders. The huge numbers of young people reaching adulthood across Africa have fuelled a powerful desire for change and has pushed forward a new wave of younger

political figures who could dramatically influence the continent's future.

• Two "dinosaurs" who were forced out of politics in 2019 – Abdelaziz

rulers were left vulnerable when armed forces withdrew their support.

• One of the most striking recent appointments was in Angola, where its president, João Lourenço, appointed Vera Daves de Sousa, a 34-year-old former researcher and analyst, to be the new finance minister. Elderly men, especially senior soldiers who fought in the decades-long civil war, have long dominated the political system in the former Portuguese colony. Vera Daves de Sousa, 34, is finance minister in Angola, where elderly men, many of them veterans of the

• Alex Vines, director of the Africa programme at London's Chatham House, said Lourenço's appointment of a swath of younger people, including many women, to senior positions within the government was a gamble. "He has leapfrogged a generation to appoint more technocratic, able people, including many women, to key posts. He sees them as change agents … Next year will be the litmus test

• Perhaps the most high profile of the young leaders is Abiy Ahmed, the 43-year-old prime minister of Ethiopia and winner of 2019's Nobel peace prize. Since coming to power in 2018, Abiy has ended a nearly 20-year military stalemate with Eritrea, and pushed through reforms at home, dramatically changing the atmosphere in what was regarded as a repressive state. Nick Cheeseman, professor of democracy at the University of Birmingham and an expert in African politics, said Abiy was facing a hard choice between a shift towards authoritarianism, or the difficult task of generating confidence and belief in his reforms. "What happens in Ethiopia has

• In Sudan, the protest movement that swept away Bashir has opened the way to younger political figures. Nevertheless, some may not be any more progressive

massive implications for the countries around it," Cheeseman said.

Bouteflika, the 82-year-old president of Algeria, who had ruled since 1999, and Omar al-Bashir, 75, in power in Sudan since 1989 – fell victim to mass movements spearheaded by young protesters, though in each case the once-powerful

**204**


Due to the testing times in 2020, such as the COVID 19, advise the Africa's young leaders on the issues of change management and state the importance of project leadership.

*Tourism*
