Leadership Concepts and the Role of Government in Africa

Leadership Concepts and the Role of Government in Africa
Author: Kwaku Abiam Danso
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2007
Genre: Economic and social development
ISBN: 9781425725006

The concepts of leadership and the specific role of government leadership in meeting the basic needs of the people seem poorly defined in many areas of African society. Many people in these poor societies seem desperate and anxious for service, contrary to what many external observers may seem to think as a state of contentment. This creates a management dilemma why government fails to deliver despite high expectations of the electorate. The case of Africa was studied using Ghana as an example of such societies where one can observe phenomenon from examples of traditional leadership of chiefs with certain powers but limited responsibilities that may not be clearly defined for modern development of the society. Whiles recognizing traditional leadership, people in these societies find themselves with shifted locus of power and control, owing loyalty and allegiance to some other elected leaders who seem not concerned about the interests of the electorate, even where very high taxes are collected and people have the money to pay for services. The case of Ghana was examined using a qualitative case study. Selected businesspersons were interviewed in the Accra-Tema metropolitan area to examine their experiences, expectations and perceptions of the leadership, using one indicator of business performance: the quality of utility service delivery regarding water, electricity, telephone and garbage. As well known and found by the World Bank and local Private Enterprise Foundation [PEF] and business groups, electricity and telephone services are indispensable elements of any modern business. In the 1990s, the facsimile machine became part of modern business to enhance data delivery in addition to voice transmission, and in 2006 the Internet and electronic mail have become an almost integral part of global business communication for more than ten years. The needs for these business tools become more critical if businesses have to compete at the global level in free-enterprise markets usually imposed by Western donor and lender conditions. Water and garbage service not only affect health in any society, but in Africa poor sewage treatment and open sewage are directly related to mosquito breeding and malaria. Malaria was reported to kill 15,000 children under five years of age and 2,000 pregnant women in 2005, and seem to reduce the average life expectancy of people in some sectors of the nation by more than six years (GhanaHomePage, 2006, May 12). The research study on Ghana by this author showed that inefficient service delivery was found to impact about 90% of businesses in almost all sectors, despite a high [73%] expectation from leadership. Despite the call for overseas investors, first-dial successful completion rate of telephone transmission from California to Ghana was only 4%, most fax machines tried were not functional, and more than 95% of the participant business managers and owners used in the study did not have regular use of the Internet. Fifty-six (56) types of leadership perceptions based on the culture evolved and were grouped into common themes, and compared with a similar study in the United States of America. Cultural factors were explored in order to understand the challenges in Ghana's socio-economic development compared with Euro-American and Asian-Confucian cultures. This book is based on a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the PhD degree at Capella University's School of Business and Technology [Organization and Management - Leadership Option] in June 2006. I wish to acknowledge the help of Capella University as well as the supervision of Dr. Godwin Igein and Dr. Stephen Tvorik of the School of Business and Technology, and Dr. Kwesi Ngissah of Oakland, California who acted as outside dissertation committee member.

Leadership Concepts and the Role of Government in Africa

Leadership Concepts and the Role of Government in Africa
Author: Kwaku Abiam Danso, PhD
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
Total Pages: 248
Release: 2007-02
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 142572499X

The concepts of leadership and the specific role of government leadership in meeting the basic needs of the people seem poorly defined in many areas of African society. Many people in these poor societies seem desperate and anxious for service, contrary to what many external observers may seem to think as a state of contentment. This creates a management dilemma why government fails to deliver despite high expectations of the electorate. The case of Africa was studied using Ghana as an example of such societies where one can observe phenomenon from examples of traditional leadership of chiefs with certain powers but limited responsibilities that may not be clearly defined for modern development of the society. Whiles recognizing traditional leadership, people in these societies find themselves with shifted locus of power and control, owing loyalty and allegiance to some other elected leaders who seem not concerned about the interests of the electorate, even where very high taxes are collected and people have the money to pay for services. The case of Ghana was examined using a qualitative case study. Selected businesspersons were interviewed in the Accra-Tema metropolitan area to examine their experiences, expectations and perceptions of the leadership, using one indicator of business performance: the quality of utility service delivery regarding water, electricity, telephone and garbage. As well known and found by the World Bank and local Private Enterprise Foundation [PEF] and business groups, electricity and telephone services are indispensable elements of any modern business. In the 1990s, the facsimile machine became part of modern business to enhance data delivery in addition to voice transmission, and in 2006 the Internet and electronic mail have become an almost integral part of global business communication for more than ten years. The needs for these business tools become more critical if businesses have to compete at the global level in free-enterprise markets usually imposed by Western donor and lender conditions. Water and garbage service not only affect health in any society, but in Africa poor sewage treatment and open sewage are directly related to mosquito breeding and malaria. Malaria was reported to kill 15,000 children under five years of age and 2,000 pregnant women in 2005, and seem to reduce the average life expectancy of people in some sectors of the nation by more than six years (GhanaHomePage, 2006, May 12). The research study on Ghana by this author showed that inefficient service delivery was found to impact about 90% of businesses in almost all sectors, despite a high [73%] expectation from leadership. Despite the call for overseas investors, first-dial successful completion rate of telephone transmission from California to Ghana was only 4%, most fax machines tried were not functional, and more than 95% of the participant business managers and owners used in the study did not have regular use of the Internet. Fifty-six (56) types of leadership perceptions based on the culture evolved and were grouped into common themes, and compared with a similar study in the United States of America. Cultural factors were explored in order to understand the challenges in Ghana's socio-economic development compared with Euro-American and Asian-Confucian cultures. This book is based on a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the PhD degree at Capella University's School of Business and Technology [Organization and Management - Leadership Option] in June 2006. I wish to acknowledge the help of Capella University as well as the supervision of Dr. Godwin Igein and Dr. Stephen Tvorik of the School of Business and Technology, and Dr. Kwesi Ngissah of Oakland, California who acted as outside dissertation committee member.

Leading Afrika

Leading Afrika
Author: Mandivamba Rukuni
Publisher: Penguin Random House South Africa
Total Pages: 188
Release: 2012-09-26
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 0143527770

Afrika is currently on a path of development that is not sustainable, because we confuse modernisation with Westernisation. This Afrikan-Western paradox prevents us from building a modern, dynamic Afrikan society - and it will take highly visionary and transformational leadership on our part as Afrikans to reinvent ourselves and build a truly modern Afrikan society. What would the world be like if its institutions were based on the values and practices of a traditional African village? In Leading Afrika, Mandivamba Rukuni re-evaluates the concepts underlying traditional African leadership principles and systems, and illustrates how these can form a modern basis for the African Renaissance. By arguing for the inclusive and traditional values expressed in the philosophy and practices of Unhu-Ubuntu-Botho, the author reminds the reader of historic successes in Africa, and illustrates how leaders globally at all levels can draw on traditional African values the better to lead their nations' people, whether at home, in the community, in business or in government.

Leaders for a New Africa

Leaders for a New Africa
Author: Giovanni Carbone
Publisher: Ledizioni
Total Pages: 162
Release: 2019-10-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 8855260871

Political leadership can be a crucial ingredient for the development of sub-Saharan Africa. The region has been going through important transformations, with both political landscapes and economic trajectories becoming increasingly diverse. The changes underway include the role of leadership and its broader impact. This volume argues that, on the whole, African leaders and the way they reach power generally do contribute to shaping their countries’ progresses and achievements. It also zooms in on some influential African leaders who recently emerged in key states across the continent, illustrating and explaining the individual paths that brought them to power while reflecting on the prospects for their governments’ actions. Far from the simplistic stereotypes of immovable, ineffective and greedy rulers, the resulting picture reveals dynamic and rapidly evolving political scenarios with key implications for development in the region.

Political Leadership in Africa

Political Leadership in Africa
Author: Giovanni Carbone
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 393
Release: 2020-03-19
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1108423736

An innovative analysis of political leadership in Africa between 1960 and 2018, drawing on an entirely new dataset.

Traditional Leadership and Democratisation in Southern Africa

Traditional Leadership and Democratisation in Southern Africa
Author: Sandra Düsing
Publisher: LIT Verlag Münster
Total Pages: 412
Release: 2002
Genre: History
ISBN: 9783825850654

What are the impacts of ethnically based, traditional political institutions on democratic state and nation building in Southern Africa and how do heterogeneous sources of legitimacy affect the prospects of long-term democratic regime consolidation? What are the impacts of "traditionalism" employed for purposes of party-political mobilization? An indicator for the political influence of traditional leadership in Southern Africa is the fact that a considerable number of democratically elected politicians in high office originate from aristocratic families, representing hereditary traditional leadership structures for centuries. This is evident for the charismatic founding president of the new South Africa; Nelson Mandela, as well as for his adversary, the prime minister-in-office, Mangosuthu Buthelezi. The careful reconsideration of this "state behind the state" has been identified as crucial, in this study, to make any realistic assessments of the prospects for sustainable democratization in Southern African countries in the near future.

Transformational Leadership in East Africa

Transformational Leadership in East Africa
Author: Eric Masinde Aseka
Publisher:
Total Pages: 476
Release: 2005
Genre: History
ISBN:

This book discusses the relationship between politics and power in East Africa from a historical perspective. The author examines how the exercise and contestation of political power and the role of leadership have played themselves out within the various ethnic communities, and at country and regional levels. He considers the aspects of culture, religion, capital, power and the state. The accumulated evidence is used to explain the character of community and regime politics in the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial eras. In all, the work provides compelling historical rationale for the present crisis of the African state, all the while arguing that the purpose of the political process should be social justice, and that social commitment is a prerequisite for effective leadership and economic and political stability.

African Political and Economic Philosophy with Africapitalism

African Political and Economic Philosophy with Africapitalism
Author: Ephraim-Stephen Essien
Publisher: Lexington Books
Total Pages: 221
Release: 2024-03-06
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 166693111X

This book creates (on the one hand) and explores (on the other hand) philosophies of African development suitable for Black sub-Saharan African countries. As an academic discipline focused on thought informed by indigenous moral values among Black peoples in the sub-Saharan region, African political philosophy involves philosophizing normatively about government by traditional Black African people with the aim of advancing a better African society. African political philosophy does not mean that its themes, views, concepts, and approaches are exclusively African. It also does not mean that only thinkers in Africa could hold these concepts, nor does it mean that all African thinkers hold the same views. “African” is used geographically in African political philosophy to demarcate certain perspectives that are unique to sub-Saharan African thought and practice that tend not to be the case elsewhere. An African political and economic philosophy should address the origin and method of political power, the guarantee of human and civil liberties, and how economic goods are generated and distributed in African societies. Africapitalism, as a new economic philosophy, obviates the inadequacies in Afrisocialism and offers an option for an African economic philosophy. Edited by Ephraim-Stephen Essien and Frank Aragbonfoh Abumere, the contributors to African Political and Economic Philosophy with Africapitalism: Concepts for African Leadership ask the question: can a neo-Afrisocialism offer anything good for the Africa?

Africa Through Structuration Theory ñ ntu

Africa Through Structuration Theory ñ ntu
Author: Mboyo, Jean Pierre Elonga
Publisher: Langaa RPCIG
Total Pages: 174
Release: 2015-06-16
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9956762962

Despite all the talk about African renaissance, much of the continent is plagued by poverty and instability. To break out of that cycle, the guardians of African heritage (the old independence freedom fighters turned political leaders and their successors) and much of Afrocentric literature rightly promote African ideas and solutions for African problems. While the idea in itself is noble, the danger is for Africa to close itself off and ignore 'outside' technical and intellectual innovations that it desperately needs to advance further. Africa through Structuration Theory - ntu joins the discourse by attempting to restore intellectual freedom and convincingly defends structuration theory not only as the way forward for Africa but also as a legitimate African concept. It is innovative, refreshing and deserves to be heard across the world and appreciated especially by African graduates, current and future leaders of various African institutions or businesses, non-Africans who might hesitate to refer to such a theory when trying to understand and deal with African problems and the wider public who constitute the audience for this book.

Governance and the Crisis of Rule in Contemporary Africa

Governance and the Crisis of Rule in Contemporary Africa
Author: Ebenezer Obadare
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 309
Release: 2016-02-09
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1137566868

This volume advances the discussions of leadership in Africa's specific history, culture, economy, and politics. The book promotes an understanding of leadership and its paradoxes and illuminates the conditions under which political leadership has been produced, and how those conditions have shaped leaders.