By Juliet Umeh

Thought leaders across Africa have said that Gen Zs are transforming civic engagement on the continent by leveraging digital tools, social platforms, and community networks to mobilise, advocate, and drive real-world change.

They spoke at the Newmark Group Limited’s special end-of-year webinar, held on Wednesday, under the organisation’s Influence 21: Pan-African Thought Leadership Series, with the theme: “The Gen Z Revolution: Redefining Influence, Identity & Connection.”

The speakers, drawn from Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, and Europe, examined how Gen Z is reshaping communication, culture, and influence across Africa through research, lived experiences, and case studies.

Opening the discussion, staff of Newmark who moderated the session, Emmchel Dudu noted that, “Influence no longer flows from the top down. This generation is not waiting for the future, they are actively reshaping the now.”

The session highlighted how African Gen Zs are harnessing digital ecosystems, from TikTok and X to WhatsApp communities, to organise, demand accountability and convert online conversations into tangible social impact. 

Case studies ranged from Kenya’s decentralised finance bill protests, to Nigeria’s youth-led accountability movements, to Ghana’s student advocacy that successfully translated digital pressure into institutional reforms.

Former Vice President of the University of Ghana SRC, Jeffrey Adu-Yeboah, stressed the importance of linking online advocacy with physical mobilisation.

According to him, several student-led campaigns succeeded because, “petitions, online pressure and coordinated on-campus action worked together to push for reductions in residential fees and policy reversals.” 

He added: “Real influence happens when digital momentum meets real-world action.”

Also speaking, Nigerian strategic communications professional, Lesijiolu Elite, described Gen Z as a generation that “refuses to outsource power.” 

She said young people across Africa are increasingly creating alternative social, economic, and civic systems rooted in agency and practicality.

From documenting injustice in real time to innovating around economic hardship, she said Gen Z, “uses creativity as both survival and resistance.”

Kenyan communications and HR expert, Waruguru Kankuki, explained how peer-to-peer civic education turned online frustrations into peaceful, decentralised protests during Kenya’s 2024–2025 finance bill crisis. She explained that TikTok explainers on the bill, “moved the issue from abstract to personal,” driving nationwide mobilisation and influencing policy outcomes.

Offering a global view, youth communication specialist, Prof. Maciej Makula, described digital spaces as Gen Z’s “real place of identity formation.” 

He said the generation builds communities around shared values such as justice, dignity and climate responsibility rather than traditional hierarchies. 

“For this generation, the timeline is the tribe,” he added.

The webinar concluded that Gen Z’s influence stems from creativity, authenticity and community-driven action rather than formal structures. Across Africa, young people are rewriting the rules of mobilisation, demanding transparency, shaping national agendas and building networks that transcend borders.

As the organisers noted, Gen Z is no longer waiting for systems to change “they are designing new ones,” signalling that the future of African civic and cultural leadership “is already in motion.”