The recent Gen Z violent riots in Nepal 2025 were a reminder of the youth restlessness around the world. Media houses reported that protesters in Nepal, a majority of them being Gen Z, broke through police barricades and entered the parliament building on September 9, 2025. The protesters clashed with the police, leaving 19 dead and over 500 injured. Within 48 hours, the government fell, but the victory came with a heavy price. In total, 72 people were killed. Government buildings, residences of politicians, and luxury hotels where political leaders would reside all suffered damage. The wife of a former prime minister is fighting for her life after their home was set ablaze. Buildings like the Hilton Hotel were torched, vandalized and looted. One Gen Z protester by the name Tanuja Pandey, while speaking to the international press, said, “We are proud, but there is also a mixed baggage of trauma, regret and anger.” The Nepalese riots brought back memories of 2024, when Gen Z in Kenya invaded parliament and tried to set it on fire. Similar uprisings have been recorded across Africa and in most developing countries.
The Gen Z uprisings across Asia and Africa have renewed the demand for countries in the global south to promote a socially transformative democracy and a governance that works for the common good by upholding the dignity of each citizen. The key demands by the Nepalese Gen Z reflect the failure of democracy to provide and work within the principles of good governance, wherein a people continue holding its representatives accountable for being responsive, transparent and collectively working to meet the people’s expectations for a good life. One key factor in the Nepalese demands was the siphoning of the country’s natural resources by the political establishment. They argued that the Nepalese natural resources belong to the people, not to politicians and their private companies. The youth demanded a march against corruption and the misuse of the nation’s wealth. The final punch was the banning of 26 social media platforms, which criticized the government for its corruption and insensitivity to demands by the public. Like in Kenya and across Africa, the Gen Z protests were leaderless. By not having leaders, the movement is stronger and less open to criminalization by the state.
What are the lessons one can draw from these youth-led protests in Nepal and across Africa? The youth have sprung out of a culture of control and containment by their ever-demanding parents to a sense of freedom. The youth even told the leader of the opposition to sit back and observe what they can do. Rt Hon Raila Odinga had been regarded as ‘Baba’ of opposition politics in Kenya. The Gen Z were now the new force. They also told their parents to keep away. They had done enough in regenerating a transformative constitution of Kenya 2010.
On 30 June 2024, the youth in Nairobi City were allowed to speak at the pulpit upon the invitation by His Grace Phillip Anyolo, the Archbishop of Nairobi. They echoed the similar sentiments of corruption by the political class, far removed from concerns of the people regarding a punitive finance bill. They had the right to take on the establishment without fear.
This sense of restlessness among the youth and the public in their calls for a responsive democracy should renew our dwindling hope for a better society and a bright future.
There are many grey areas that fuel anger among the general public, especially Gen Z, but the escape route for those in power seems to be military intervention. Military takeover as a response to rogue regimes may give short term solutions if the military takeover is led by real patriots. But when those taking over are hungry for the honey pot and wealth of the nation, they end up being dictators themselves. They might promote a culture of extrajudicial killings to eliminate dissent.
Military takeovers have been experienced in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Sudan and Guinea. Most scholars agree that forceful take over may not build a corruption- and oppression-free society, especially when the ruling military junta start infighting within its ranks, leading to the disruption of the already strained livelihoods of the population in need. Military coups may not be the answer.
In some countries, you find leaders who have overstayed in office as they continue looting public coffers for their next of kin and relatives. Those who take over through the barrel of the gun can be in office for 30, 35, 40 years and still want to continue leading.
Therefore, these are some of the proposals for a better society in Africa and perhaps Asia too.
Most researchers and students of democracy say the youth want to take action but lack the experience and expertise of turning their frustrations to real resource development on the continent. They hunger for a development model that promotes human value and economic flourishing that gives tangible hope. They can achieve this when the institutions of higher learning transform the education systems not to be guided by A grade passes, but by normative values that build a strong foundation for social justice.
The difference between parents and youth is significant. Parents see wealth creation as end game. Youth see love and value of humanity as a prerequisite to wealth building. Fr. Patrick Kanja, from St Paul’s Chaplaincy and Parish, University of Nairobi, Kenya, while preaching for a newlywed couple in 2013, gave a brief but rich moral story. A family of four sat for dinner. The bell rung. The father of the home asked their beloved daughter to open the door because she expected her best friend to join them for dinner and sleep over. When she opened the door, there were three people. She called back to her parents that there were three people whom she had never met before. The father asked for their names. They were wealth, success and love. The daughter should allow one to enter because they had only one free plate. The mother asked for success to enter; the father wanted wealth. The girl cried out, “Nooo! l want love to enter, because in this home we never share love.” Being the favourite daughter like the Herodias of the gospels, she had her way and allowed love to enter. To the surprise of everyone, when love entered, wealth and success entered as well. The moral of the story is that most parents hardly have time for their children, let alone know what their children want. They immediately equate contentment with wealth and success, not love.
The Gen Z are a wounded generation, trying to walk in the footsteps of their absentee parents but with little success. That is why when you read through the expressions of Gen Z towards the police, it is always a chilling experience. They say shoot me, kill me and my parents will pocket ksh.2 million ($15300). The Gen Z sound tired and emotionally broken because the values they learnt from their parents are not what they see in society or in the public space. They see corruption and violence to protect corruption. Nobody is listening to what they want.
The second demand is that Africa is a continent rich in culture and natural resources but that faces a myriad of challenges that threaten its growth and development. Gen Z are smart and well-educated people. They feel that despite Africa being home to some of the fastest-growing economies in the world, African countries are not addressing the issue that natural resources are being siphoned out to the developed world with less accountability. The youth in Nigeria, DRC Congo, South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, South Africa and recently Ghana are pushing the political establishment to ensure a sustainable and prosperous future for their citizens through equitable trading within the rich extractive industry.
The call by the Gen Z to invest in natural resources across Africa has been picked by the organisers (AFSIC) of the international conference coming up in London from 14-15 October 2025. Even though the Investing in Africa Conference and Expo 2025 is in London, the focus is to highlight major concerns that hold the continent of Africa behind. The AFSIC, as the organiser, points to economic challenges of poverty and income inequality, unemployment and underdevelopment. Deforestation and biodiversity loss have been exacerbated by demand for extractive industry where raw materials leave the continent in tons, leaving nations empty of their natural resource wealth.
Their concept paper identified lack of diversity and dependence on primary commodities like oil, minerals, and agricultural products, making African states vulnerable to global price fluctuations and killing the desire for incentives to diversity into stable, self-made competitive industries. The major problem has been poor education metrics that honour grades rather than normative values. The organisers have identified the youth as the most affected, posing a great challenge to their respective countries.
The youth ask for universal health care infrastructure but also architecture that should feed data for renewed research into common diseases like malaria, tuberculosis, HIV strain and new medicines to counter them.
Gender inequality is getting less attention. Now there is concern about gender in a binary sense (male and female), or in a third and fourth binary sense across Africa and Asia. It has been discussed in many forums suchthat when experts sit at the table, they lean towards women more than men as the real actors in gender relations.
During Covid-19, the UN Secretary General Report on domestic violence revealed why most times men are a ‘walking grenade’ ready to be flung and to explode without regret. This point was further amplified further by a 2020 BBC documentary.
Attention to trauma and mental illness is lacking. When Pope Leo XIV was elected in May 2025, his first response was to meet the youth. Harmony Healthcare reported that 46% of Gen Z across the world have been diagnosed with a mental health condition, while 37% suspect they have a mental health condition. ADHD, anxiety and depression were at the top of the diagnoses of mental health concerns. Pope Leo XIV wanted to respond to these concerns. From July 28 to August 3, over one million young adults were in Rome for the Jubilee of Youth. Other millions followed across the globe. It was a clear indicator that there was trauma experienced in family institutions weakened by a society calling for better youth mentorship. A Gen Z youth emerging from such a family situation of brokenness would want to vent his anger on the streets.
Therefore, what the youth in Africa and Asia want is job creation through investment programmes. The investment should open up opportunities for the youth to find their space and voice for a better world. The demand for growing networks across Africa and Asia by creating space for the youth to meet business leaders from all parts of the continent should be encouraged. Perhaps the teams of Aliko Dangote, Jack Maa, Adani, and Elon Musk could invest in such venture promotions to give the youth opportunities, especially those savvy in digital technology. It means supporting the Gen Z by matching funding and finance requirements to relevant global investors and businesses with an appetite for investing into self-made type of business
However, it has been observed by AFSIC that the voices of the Gen Z across Africa and Asia demand democracy that is transparent, supportive, and that strengthens institutions by combating corruption andrebuilding good governance. Enhancing the rule of law, promoting transparency, and ensuring that public funds are used effectively will create a culture of growth and prosperity for all generations to experience full happiness. The public and political institutions are challenged to promote an inclusive society, democratic and open to public scrutiny.
It is this Gen Z group that must now value integrity, social justice, equity and common goods, and respect for the rights of each person to flourish, while buildingtheir countries to catch up with the global economies. Gen Z has given its institutions a clear mandate on best ways to transform a continent so rich in natural resources and human capacity for growth.