Bold Actions for Bold Results: Empowering African Leadership

All of the resources that African leaders need to grow their organizations and institutions can be found in Africa. Strathmore University recently hosted the organizers and sponsors of the upcoming Made-In-Africa Leadership Conference for the press launch of this year’s conference. The Made-In-Africa Leadership Conference (MLC) is an annual gathering of African business owners and business leaders, Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) & Managing Directors (MDs), Owners of small and large businesses in Africa, the Diasporan Community who wish to return to Africa to do business and Executive Teams of organizations in Africa. This year this exciting conference will be held in Kenya on the 12 and 13 of June.

 MLC is a Pan-African conference organized by African leaders for African Leaders with the following three objectives: to encourage and foster leadership growth among African leaders, to spur intra-Africa trade and collaboration, and to increase productivity and production of goods and services in Africa. The MLC facilitates focused networking and the exchange of ideas with delegates from all over Africa, learning from and challenging each other, and building the foundation for future business alliances.

The MLC has indeed been a catalyst for positive change and the conference has been very impactful in the preceding years. Dr. Vincent Ogutu, the Vice-Chancellor of Strathmore University, narrated the story of the invention of the Walkman, a portable music device invented in 1979 in his opening remarks. Sony created what it described as a “headphone culture”. To date, more than 250 million Walkmans, covering 80 or so different models, have been sold worldwide. Sony is an example of an iconic Japanese brand. Over the decades, the term ‘Made in Japan,’ has reassured global consumers. Dr. Ogutu reflected on the term, ‘Made in Africa,’ and whether that statement had the same ring to it and how African manufacturers should work towards gaining global recognition by maintaining the highest standards. Through leadership transformation, African brands can command respect globally. Indeed, some Kenyan brands are beginning to gain recognition and respect from the international community.

Speaking at the event, Catherine Musakali, the Founder of Women on Boards Network, remarked that “Leadership is important because everything starts, ends, and turns with leadership. If we do not get leadership right nothing will happen.” For Africa to reach its full potential as a continent, it is imperative that leaders make the right decisions. Dr. Modupe, the founder and CEO of BCA Leadership, a pan-African organization that has impacted over 2000 African leaders with leadership coaching and knowledge-sharing services, and the curator of the Made in Africa Leadership Conference, asserted that when leaders are intellectually malnourished, they make poor decisions that can not only lead to the loss of livelihoods but also to the loss of life. Dr. Modupe served as an office in combat in the Sierra Leone Civil War. His experiences in the army ignited a passion for leadership development and transforming Africa. He aims to leave Africa a vastly different place from the Africa he experienced in his youth. He further highlighted that unconscious competence is a tragic phenomenon in African leadership and that striving for unconscious competence is critical for true, positive transformation.

Dr. Njogu, a panelist at the event, challenged the audience with the quote, “He who dares wins.” He went on to explain that Africans are not impatient enough to take bold actions and often postpone action altogether and that we expect our leaders to make decisions and exclude ourselves from the conversation. He also extolled the virtues of having strong institutions, stating that bad leaders can be held in check by strong institutional frameworks.  He reminded the audience that accountability is also the responsibility of the followership.

The panel discussions also reflected on the values that guided African forefathers, and how people cared more about community back then, than individual ambition. The discussions concluded with insights on how systems should be created to re-distribute power back to the community and how important our values are to act as a guiding light and moral compass.

This event served to set the stage for the two-day MLC conference that promises more candid conversations, high impact learning and networking for growth-oriented African business leaders. I hope to see you there.

Article by Shailja Sharma, Strathmore University Faculty Member and Leadership and Career Coach