Street children in French-speaking Africa ^{CEFR B1}

The International Catholic Child Bureau reported over 120 million street children worldwide in 2021, including about 30 million in Africa; the number in Africa is estimated to reach 35 million by 2025. The problem appears across cities and communities, but it often has low priority in national development policies.

Several causes push children onto the streets. Humanium lists poverty, wars, violence, past abuse, exploitation and desperation, and some families reject children after accusing them of witchcraft. Economic and social marginalisation has produced different local names for the same reality.

In Cameroon the common name is Mboko, short for Nanga-boko: Nanga means "sleep" and éboko means "outside." The term relates to migration paths that brought many homeless youths to Yaoundé, where large street groups became associated with drug use and local Mbolé music. The Elang City song "Toaster Le Yamo" is cited as portraying unemployed young people and criticising their difficulties rather than promoting drugs.

In the DRC the Lingala word Shégué describes street children, some of whom join armed gangs called Kulunas and take part in theft and violent attacks in Kinshasa. In Côte d’Ivoire child gangs called microbes often work or fight instead of attending school; some microbes have used extreme violence in Abidjan. Filmmaker Alex Ogou made the series "Invisibles" to show how many of these children are abandoned or left to fend for themselves. Despite civil society efforts, ensuring dignity and security for street children remains difficult and long-term solutions are uncertain.