Africa has the youngest population in the world so it’s no surprise that last year, African Twittersphere was abuzz with the #IfAfricaWasABar hashtag. And on Thursday the 25th of August 2016, they piggybacked off of the old hashtag creating the #IfAfricaWasASchool trending topic. It was full of witty and hilarious tweets describing the continent in playground memes that had everyone doubled over in laughter.

If there’s anything young people in Africa are popular for on social media, it is taking a sad or challenging situation and turning it into something funny, enough to make everyone laugh without taking away from the issue at hand. Other noteworthy hashtags coined on African Twitter include #WhatWouldMagafuliDo, in reference to Tanzania’s austere new president, and #SomeoneTellCNN, as the American news organisation wrongly called Kenya a “hotbed of terror.”

Here are some of our favourite tweets from the trend, depicting what would happen#IfAfricaWasASchool:

No one would trust the regional or continental organisations to help:

Despots and sit-tight leaders who continue to refuse to leave power would not be left out of the fun:

Issues surrounding colonialism and colonisation across Africa in the 20th century would be brought up in history class:

Geography would still be harder for some than others:

No one would show up on time because, you know, African time:

Despite the lighthearted nature in which these issues were discussed on Thursday morning, the tweets highlight some serious problems still affecting the African continent. However, what is most refreshing about the trend is the level of awareness across the board for young people on the continent. If anything, this trending topic showed that the African youth is aware of the problems afflicting his or her people and with this awareness comes the hope for a better tomorrow.

With any luck, these are the future leaders of Africa and they will have an important hand in curing the current ills plaguing Africa.

Elsewhere on Ventures

Triangle arrow