The somewhat unconvincing results of most crisis resolution efforts in Africa, and the mixed results from current development assistance projects, suggest that systems better adapted to present-day realities need to be thought out. A French interministerial team is working on a tool for crisis resolution and development as a long-term solution: a civic development service. Based on French experience in youth training, but also schemes currently in hand in Africa, the aim is to allow the youth of Africa to become, or become once again, what it should be: the continent’s number one asset.