DURBAN – Southern Africa’s young population holds the key to the region’s prosperity, but only if governments invest deliberately in education, health and economic opportunity, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Friday.

Speaking at a public lecture at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Westville Campus, the president warned that without sustained action, youth unemployment could derail the Southern African Development Community’s Vision 2050.

More than half of SADC’s population is under the age of 30, making young people the region’s “greatest strategic asset” but also its most urgent challenge.

“Our population is young and growing. More than half the people of this Community are under the age of 30. This is our greatest strategic asset. It is the engine of our region’s future,” Ramaphosa said.

He described youth unemployment as one of the gravest threats to stability and progress across member states, noting that too many qualified young people sit at home without work despite doing everything asked of them.

“Across this region are young people who did everything that was asked of them. They stayed in school. They passed. They borrowed money to study. Many graduated, but now too many young people sit at home with a qualification and no employment,” he said.

Investment must start in early childhood

Ramaphosa said human capital development must begin well before young people enter tertiary education or the job market.

He warned that childhood stunting carries lifelong consequences that no amount of later intervention can fully reverse.

“A child whose growth is stunted carries that loss for a lifetime. No university can adequately undo it. No industrial policy can properly compensate for it,” he said.

Under Vision 2050’s Human and Social Capital Development pillar, he called for greater investment in maternal health, early nutrition, basic services and child safety.

The president also urged action on barriers including child marriage, teenage pregnancy and the digital divide affecting rural youth.

“Each of the barriers we remove adds to the productive capacity of our economies,” he said.

Women’s participation non-negotiable

Ramaphosa said meaningful regional integration cannot happen without the full participation of women, who continue to face barriers in accessing finance, markets and procurement opportunities.

He placed gender-based violence and femicide among the key challenges that must be confronted.

“Yet there can be no equality between women and men for as long as women are not safe,” he said.

He called for a comprehensive regional response including stronger laws, improved prosecutions and support for survivors, but said prevention must focus on men and boys.

“As a Community, we must be clear that prevention does not begin with women. It begins with the men and the boys in our homes, our schools, our churches, our workplaces and our taverns, who must be raised to reject violence and abuse,” he said.

Migration and regional solidarity

The president addressed discrimination against SADC nationals living in other member states, saying exclusion was incompatible with the principles of regional integration.

“We cannot preach integration at summits and practise exclusion in our streets,” he said.

He acknowledged concern about the treatment of foreign nationals in South Africa and said the region must address the conditions driving migration, including conflict, poverty and governance failures.

“We seek a region where people move out of choice, not out of desperation,” Ramaphosa said.

Peace essential for development

None of the region’s ambitions can be achieved without peace and stability, the president said, describing the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo as the “gravest test” of SADC’s resolve.

“Investment does not flow where there is conflict. People’s basic social needs cannot be provided for in a war zone. An economic corridor cannot operate where territory is contested,” he said.

He welcomed progress in Mozambique’s Inclusive National Dialogue and noted the region’s support for processes in Madagascar.

Ramaphosa also highlighted the threat of climate change, with the region increasingly experiencing droughts, cyclones and floods that reduce harvests, pressure currencies and increase hunger.

He called for the strengthening of the SADC Humanitarian and Emergency Operations Centre to respond more rapidly to disasters.

“We must act before a disaster strikes, rather than scramble for assistance after it,” he said.

‘Vision 2050 is yours’

In closing, Ramaphosa told students that the region’s future belongs to them, not to current leaders.

“The Southern Africa of 2050 we have described will not be run by those of us who will take our seats at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre in the coming days. It will be run by you, the youth of our region,” he said.

He said young people have the right to hold current leaders accountable for implementing Vision 2050.

“Vision 2050 is not our document. It is yours, and you are entitled to demand an account of what we did with it,” Ramaphosa said.

ALSO READ: South Africa takes helm of regional bloc with focus on peace and prosperity