Lack of strategic leadership bane of Africa’s devt - Prof. Alabi
The Dean of the Centre for International Education and Collaboration (CIEC) at the University of Professional Studies, Accra, (UPSA), Professor Goski Alabi, has called on African leaders to prioritise strategic leadership to be able to create a strong continent that will serve the needs of its citizens.
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That, she said, would help tackle the biggest challenge facing the continent, which is lack of strategic leadership.
Speaking at the university’s 2017 Strategic Leadership Colloquium, Prof. Goski said, it was not only the issue of governance that was holding the development of the continent back
“For some time now, about a quarter of a century, Africa has been campaigning and bringing up the issue of good governance and democratic governance but what do we see?”
“Yes, good governance and democratic governance have been able to change the storyline of Africa to the extent that the Economist magazine changed its storyline from describing Africa as the continent that was dark and doomed, to Africa, a continent that is rising.”
“So, indeed good governance has a role to play, but you and I can still see it has not been able to free the African people from their plight of poverty, so the challenge of Africa is not merely a challenge of governance,” she stated.
She said what good governance did was to set the framework for governance to ensure transparency and accountability “but what is accountability in the face of a hungry man? What is good governance in the face of a country that is plagued by malnutrition, low life expectancy and low educational structures?” she asked.
As a result, she observed, the lack of good and strategic leadership rather than good governance was the challenge derailing the creation of the Africa that was desired.
She added that if African leaders were to create the Africa they wanted in order to accelerate the rate of development, then they needed to focus on strategic leadership.
Colloquium
The colloquium was organised by the 2017 Strategic Leadership class and was held on the theme: ‘’Bridging the gap between academia and industry; the role of a strategic leader.’’
The students, who were in 10 groups, took turns to make presentations. The presentations touched on the corporate strategies of select companies, including the Ghana Atomic Commission, the Accra Compost and Recycling Plant, the Grand Pacific Limited and the Ghana Football Association.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Accra Compost and Recycling Plant, Dr Richard Amponsah, bemoaned the gap between what was being taught in the class and what industry actually needed in terms of professional skills and talents.
He said universities in Ghana, at both undergraduate and graduate levels, tended to focus too much on theory, neglecting the practicals.
“I am not here to undermine the importance of theories or market analyses at all. Great business minds always need to look at where we are, how economies function and more.”
“Currently, emphasis is placed more on teaching and expounding theories than practical knowledge,” he stated.
He emphasised the need for universities to prepare graduates adequately for the world of work to help eliminate the burden that shoddy training placed on industry.