Rethinking Development in Africa

In an intertextual assessment of Jacob’s Ladder (1987) and The Resolutionaries (2013), we are conducting a post-colonial analysis with the aim of showing that the post-colonization systems of sociopolitical and economic organization in African countries has no other objective but spoliation and subjugation of African economies to Western countries. For these two writers, and especially Armah, the international meetings which often gather the great leaders of this world in Africa and elsewhere are only “bloody ritual” meetings organized to make sure that the system of pillage is working perfectly. In this work, our objective is to show how Williams and Armah make use of the power of the imaginary to open the way to development in Africa, specifically by shaping a new African leadership which is ready to challenge the devil plan of Western hegemonic powers with as defiant programs as Fasseke’s nuclear project in Jacob’s Ladder (1987) and Nefert’s plan of unified linguistic construction in The Resolutionaries (2013).

African leadership university: implementation strategies for innovative mass higher education

Learning outcomes After studying this case, students should be able to: explain how strategic management relates to the areas of innovation, operations, technology, entrepreneurship and emerging markets; analyse strategy implementation and execution at the operational level, in contrast to strategy formulation at the strategic mission, values and vision level; discuss innovation, entrepreneurship and new technologies in emerging markets; and assess the impact of technology-driven entrepreneurship on significant socio-economic change that is on transformational entrepreneurship, in emerging markets. Case overview/synopsis This case outlines key global challenges facing higher education in the African context. It discusses the African Leadership University (ALU) as an innovative higher education institution, including its origins, establishment, strategy and purpose, curriculum, technology and operations, student support network and funding. It also describes ALU’s ongoing challenges and future prospects. ALU was launched in 2015 by Fred Swaniker, founder and chief executive officer and Khurram Masood, co-founder and chief operating officer. ALU’s vision was to transform Africa by developing and connecting three million high-calibre, ethical and entrepreneurial leaders by 2035. In August 2019, Swaniker and Masood considered how to ensure ALU’s sustainability and its vision. They had already changed ALU’s operational strategy by establishing micro-campuses instead of universities to scale rapidly and avoid regulatory barriers. However, would that be enough to uphold ALU’s vision for 2035? Complexity academic level This case is appropriate for postgraduate-level academic programmes and executive education programmes in management. Supplementary materials Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 11: Strategy.

Globalization/Liberalization and Poverty Level in Africa

Despite the flow of foreign direct investment into Africa, there was low human development. Leadership was established as the missing link between high level of globalization in Africa and low economic development. The chapter established the role played by leadership in the relationship between globalization and poverty level in Africa. The chapter postulates that it was time the question of African leadership was directed to the hidden causes of poor leadership behavior instead of the ineffective means of seeking a surface change of leadership style without changing the underlying causes. African leadership mindset was positioned into four quadrants, which accounted for the dark and the bright side of leadership in Africa. Also, it was argued that by changing the African leadership mindset to growth/external mindset, leadership behaviors could be transformed to drive change in structure and management to obtain the gains of globalization.

African Leadership in Children's Literature: Illustrations from the Shona Ngano (Folktale) Genre

Feminist scholarship sees African society as traditionally patriarchal, while the colonists saw traditional African leadership as lacking in values such as democracy, tolerance, and accountability, until these were imposed by Europeans. Using Afrocentricity as a theoretical basis, this article examines African leadership as portrayed in the Shona ngano [folktale] genre and concludes that, in fact, leadership was neither age- nor gender-specific and was democratic, tolerant, and accountable. It recommends further research into African oral traditions as a way of arriving at more positive images of traditional Africa and her diverse heritage.

African Indigenous Leadership Philosophy and Democratic Governance System: Gada’s Intersectionality with Ubuntu

This paper aims to add to the recent scholarly search for African leadership philosophy to improve leadership effectiveness in Africa. It examines the Oromo Gada system’s democratic governance and leadership principles and argues its relevance to the current and future leadership effectiveness in Oromia, Ethiopia, and Africa. It analyses the literature on the history, culture, and current practices of the Gada system to identify its leadership philosophies. It discusses these principles by comparing with Ubuntu and other indigenous African leadership philosophies on the one hand with UN principles of good governance on the other. Evidences show that in spite of the expansion of modern education and leadership training; there are little or no evidence of leadership effectiveness in Africa. Corruption, poverty, injustice, and lack of legitimacy and accountability have continued to be the images of Africa and its leadership. These leadership failures are attributed to lack of leadership that connects with the societal values and cultures. The adoption of Gada leadership principles of liberty, equality, morality, rule of law, participation and engagement of citizens, decision making by consensus, separation of power and check and balance, decentralized governance, fixed terms office and peaceful transfer of power, accountability, transparency and impeachment of elected leaders, honesty, team leadership and conflict transformation in political, public and private sector organization leadership are discussed. The development and adoption of Gada, Ubuntu, and other indigenous leadership philosophies is recommended as a remedy to Africa’s leadership problems.

Reconciling Pan-Arabism and Pan-Africanism: The North African Leadership Dilemma

The purpose of this research to examine the challenges Arab leaders face in simultaneously adhering to Pan-Arabism and Pan-Africanism and extract conditions in which the two ideologies can be reconciled to produce mutual benefits. This study poses the question: what strategies do North-African leaders deploy to balance their Pan-Arab and Pan-African commitments and what repercussions do these strategies have on the state of Arab-African relations? By drawing on two scenarios where Pan-Arabism and Pan-Africanism conflicted, namely the 1967-1979 Arab-Israeli Conflict and the 2011 Libyan civil war, it will highlight the role leadership can play in mediating such tensions. The study finds that it is only through the decrease of hegemonic pursuits and the increase in effective leadership processes both domestically and regionally that the two ideologies can coexist.

Leadership and Performance

This chapter considers the role of leadership in Africa's agricultural and economic development. At the beginning of the millennium, a series of developments on the continent created the conditions for the establishment of real African leadership. The agenda for the agricultural sector was articulated in the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), a continent-wide framework for agriculture-led growth and development with clear targets. However, there are risks of policy reversal. Mutual accountability processes are crucial to increasing cooperation and coordinating action among multiple stakeholders—for example, governments, farmers, input suppliers, processors, and donors—in solving issues that no single group can address alone. Such review and dialogue platforms are all-important building blocks for more effective African leadership and improved policy processes and outcomes in the future.

Race-Class-Gender Articulation and the Fifth International

Agozino supports Amin’s call for a Fifth International, but offers suggestions to make it more inclusive. He argues “It is not enough for the Fifth International to call on Workers of the World to Unite without questioning the extent to which racism, imperialism and patriarchy divide the working class and weaken the struggle to end exploitation.” Although the First International addressed class exploitation in articulation with the struggles against the oppression of nationalities and racial groups and against gender oppression, “[t]he departure from the race-class-gender articulation or intersectionality model that Marx envisaged by the organizers of subsequent internationals may be part of the reasons why the organizational aim was not sustained.” Agozino calls for more intentionality in constructing the leadership of the Fifth International than is in Amir’s proposal. While Amir was attentive to the inclusion of African leadership, he paid less attention to the inclusion of women or indigenous peoples. And while Amin seemed concerned with creating a manageable process through the delegation of a small number of leaders, Agozino says it is “better to allow a million leaders to emerge from local to the global levels.”