Focusing on both pre-colonial and post-colonial eras, this book aims to cultivate a greater understanding of globalisation processes in the context of leadership behaviour in Africa. Analysing empirical evidence and theoretical frameworks, the author evaluates the role of leaders in the failure of African globalisation and seeks to propose an initiative for change. As emphasis shifts from world control to regional and sub-regional control, the new face of globalisation offers an opportunity for Africa to grow and develop with a new leadership perspective. Presenting servant leadership as a solution to Africa’s global failures, this timely book explores the challenges of governance, resource management and regionalisation, and will be of value to anyone interested in the development of Africa as a continent.

This book is a timely guide on what constitutes effective leadership in Africa. It explores how today’s leaders in Africa perceive their role, the challenges they experience, and how they operate effectively as leaders. In the era of globalization, there is an increasing need to offer guidance on how leaders can adjust their leadership style to suit situational contexts. Drawing on case study and survey data, this book illustrates to scholars and leaders worldwide the vision of leadership that is emerging in Africa. It will contribute to the development of a new community of global leaders, integrating cutting-edge knowledge on leadership development in Africa.

This book considers the promises and challenges of globalization for Africa. Why have African states been perennially unable to diversify their economies and move beyond export of primary produce, even as Southeast Asia has made a tremendous leap into manufacturing? What institutional impediments are in play in African states? What reforms would mitigate the negative effects of globalization and distribute its benefits more equitably? Covering critical themes such as political leadership, security challenges, the creative sector, and community life, essays in this volume argue that the starting point for Africa’s meaningful engagement with the rest of the world must be to look inward, examine Africa’s institutions, and work towards reforms that promote inclusiveness and stability.

This book outlines perspectives of emerging and established African scholars on what one could describe as the debate on leadership and the articulation of the life of the mind in Africa's socio-economic, political and cultural life from the time of independence to date. The papers contained in the book cover the following thematic areas: Alternative Leadership Paradigm for Africa's Advancement; African Perspectives on Globalisation and international relations; Pan-Africanism and the African Renaissance; Scientific, Technological and Cultural Dimensions of African Development. The first section deals with alternative leadership paradigms for Africa's advancement. It also debates the 'thin line' separating management studies from leadership studies and untangles the hermeneutic complexities in the term 'leadership'. Section two examines among other things, the crucial challenge of globalisation and public ethics and others African perspectives. The section also interrogates the current complexities and credibility deficits in the global governance of trade and towards the end engages philosophical questions about conscience and consciousness in African development and progress. The debates in section three continue to section four and focus on the overall issues of language and liberation, the significance of Multi-, Inter and Trans-Disciplinary Approaches in the analysis of the African continent, appropriate indigenous paradigms for promoting the African renaissance as well as a series of debates on the meaning and prospects of regional integration in Africa's renewal. This provides just a snapshot of a very wide ranging and interesting debate contained in the publication.

This book looks at the challenges and possibilities facing leadership in Africa today by providing a rich history of the continent, the complexities the continent has experienced, and the great hope and encouragement that remains. It explores what African leadership is and the possible effects it has on leaders, followers, and organizations across the continent. While some maintain that leadership of and within Africa presents too many challenges, this book argues that Africa is ripe with potential and on the verge of an African Renaissance. This book looks beyond socioeconomic factors to explore different perspectives of leadership such as holistic, transformational, and servant leadership, as well as values and ethics. Taking a philosophical and pragmatic approach, this edited collection provides insight from African-born leadership scholars to deliver a first-hand account of the challenges the continent faces. Their unique experiences and immersion in the African world pave the way for a revival of leadership through a lens of history, tradition, economics, societal, and leadership perspectives.

A comprehensive examination of the work of the African Union (AU), with special emphasis on its capacity to meet the challenges of building and sustaining governance institutions and security mechanisms. Samuel Makinda and F. Wafula Okumu show how Africa and, in particular, the AU can effectively addressed the challenges of building and sustaining governance institutions and security mechanisms only if they have strategic leadership. Current debates on, and criticisms of, leadership in Africa are also analyzed as well as key options for overcoming the constraints that African leaders face. Core topics covered include: the colonial policies of the European powers the emergence of Pan-Africanism the creation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in 1963 the evolution of the OAU into the AU in 2002 the AU’s capacity to address poverty alleviation, conflict management and resolution, peacebuilding and humanitarian intervention.

Over the past 20 years the global political economy has experienced its most profound shifts since the onset of the industrial revolution. In South Africa and the World, Mills Soko reflects on some of the salient issues that have pervaded public discourse during this time, analysing them within the context of the contemporary South African political economy and of the country's position in the world. Arranged thematically, the essays were all written during a defining period in recent history, a period that has witnessed, among others, the accession of China to the WTO, the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the US, the invention of the iPad, the birth of Facebook, the 2008/9 global financial crisis, Brexit and the global coronavirus pandemic which began at the end of 2019. The turbulent multipolar world demands visionary political and economic leadership, supported by institutions well attuned to contemporary conditions. Such leadership is in short supply. Nor is the existing institutional architecture sufficiently equipped to deal with a complex array of economic, social, environmental, technological and demographic challenges. Mills Soko highlights what has not worked in terms of politics, leadership, foreign policy, the economy, the African development trajectory, corporate ethics, international trade, global governance, and the thread which underlies all these issues – the importance of strong, decisive and accountable leadership. He counters his criticism with what has worked and offers views on how some of the problems that have constrained progress in South Africa and the world can be solved. A central message emerges from his writings: leadership and governance matter, whether in the national or international context. It is a message that permeates all the chapters in the book. And it goes to the heart of what South Africa has gone through over the past two decades and where it is today.