In the context of the 52nd St. Gallen Symposium from 4-5 May, our Africa Chapter held a side-event at Stellenbosch University

Building on its history of over 52 years, the St. Gallen Symposium continues to provide a platform where different representatives from different generations gather to exchange knowledge, perspectives, and opinions on the world’s most significant issues. This year the symposium in celebration of its Africa Chapter held a side event at the University of Stellenbosch, parallel to the 52nd St. Gallen Symposium from 4-5 May on the theme “A New Generational Contract” . The objective of the event was to introduce the Africa chapter, build a strong alumni network in Africa while offering the opportunity to contribute to the symposium’s global cross-generational dialogue from a regional perspective.  The event was made possible by the Swiss Embassy, the St. Gallen Symposium, Stellenbosch University, the St. Gallen Symposium Africa Chapter and Swiss businesses that supported and participated in the event.

About 60 participants actively contributed to the event and lively debates. The debate followed a roundtable-style set-up, where each table – with participants from different generations present – was given a topic to discuss:

• To achieve a more sustainable economy: Do governments need to impose stricter regulations on markets and companies?
• Are you optimistic that technological innovation will provide a solution for society’s challenges?
• One principle of the St. Gallen Symposium’s “New Generational Contract” (NGC) relates to “Voice”. How does South Africa fare with regards to sufficient voice and participation of all generations, old and young, in decision-making processes? How can it be improved (in policy, business, society…)?
• The third NGC principle relates to “Care”- that generations owe each other sufficient (economic, social, …) care across different stages of their lives.  How well are members of different generations currently taking care of each other? How does our ability to care change in light of a shifting world of work and demography?
• Are younger generations too demanding towards their employers?

 Honoured guest Prof. Jonathan Jansen concluded the event by leaving guests with powerful thought provoking ideas. He began by challenging the idea of splitting generations by age and challenged the audience to think about “the generational lens” carefully and also to consider other metrics such as values when thinking about different generations. He also pointed out that each time debates and conversation across generations are held, they always take a confrontational tone. He explained elaborately with diligent excellence the dangers of falling back on societal definers like race, age and gender using the South African race context to underline his point. He encouraged participants to consider what solidarity looks like across generations.

Some of his key points included solidarity going beyond words and different generations learning how to speak respectfully to each other.