Youth #Protests and Political Imaginaries: Insights from Nigeria, Senegal, and Sudan

This article advances understandings of how social media was used both as a space and as a catalyst of political mobilisation by youth-led movements in Africa to advance their democratic demands. It examines youth-led movements in three countries: the Sudan protests from 2018 to 2019, the #EndSARS protests in Nigeria in 2020, and the #FreeSenegal protests spanning 2021 to 2024. These movements highlighted significant concerns regarding governance, economic disparity, human rights, and democracy. While African youth continue to be sidelined from formal politics, their online protests and street protests did not just counter autocratic tendencies by the state but also reflected their political imaginaries. Their political expressions indicate adherence to democratic tenets such as participation and accountability.