Last month, my eyes were on the east. My encounter with insider Chris Ruffle was a real eye-opener on the complexity of doing business with the mysterious country that is China. After investigating China comes Africa. Africa is a mammoth with two faces, and the third Africa Pensions and Sovereign Funds Investment Forum in London in September brought it home to me. Organised by investment marketing and communications firm Africonomie, the forum was designed to help owners of capital understand the concept and context of investing in Africa’s growth markets and help build ecosystems able to leverage the local resources and bring innovative investment solutions.
Africa is on one hand the continent of hope. With its 54 countries, its 1 billion people, its hundreds of cultures and dialects, Africa has been growing vigorously for more than a decade. Its fast and dynamic leopard economies boast an average growth rate close to 10% over the past four years, doing far better than the troubled global economy which is in search of a new model. More importantly, it has made tremendous progress in eradicating poverty and pandemic diseases. This is the bright side, the awakening of Africa.
On the other hand, it is a continent plagued by curses. It has 15 seemingly endless conflicts, as well as complex relationships with natural resources both locally and internationally. This complex cultural mix creates a perception of volatility and, it has to be said, there are concerns about lack of ethics and values when it comes to business on the continent.
I attended the conference, listened to the wide array of presenters, both Africans and other nationalities, that eloquently presented an interesting picture of the reality of African investment. How hard it is not to fall into clichés when attempting to deal with Africa? More importantly, how can we not fall into a complacent western mindset when reflecting on investment and corporate leadership in Africa?
I emphasise corporate leadership because great leaders have emerged in Africa – the late Nelson Mandela, the progressive Habib Bourguiba of Tunisia, or the intellectual Léopold Sédar-Senghor of Senegal are evidence.
So why do we seem unable to see, grasp, embrace and ultimately promote African leadership the way US leadership has been prioritised over the last 100 years? There are two answers in my mind –because we cannot and because we do not want to.
- Start by telling the real stories – communicate, communicate and communicate again. But choose carefully, not through the normal channels of the Financial Times or the Wall Street Journal, but using social media and community-based channels. Tell real stories about real people.
- Then build a new reality. People underestimate Africa because few in the business community are offering a different perspective. Start thinking, go deep and you will find your strengths, your unique points, just like a business does.
This can be done by freeing yourself of potential insecurities. Be strongly convinced, as I am, that there is or there will be an African leadership style. It has not yet been quite defined or even made fully visible and understandable to the rest of the business community, but it will be. Realise that leadership is a product of the environment, and there is much to learn from the African context, a mix of servant leadership and ubuntu.
Embrace the idea that the African leadership style is in need of reinvention, from Africa’s own DNA. And then build on all the pillars of the human mind, feel, think and act in an impact-seeking way, from oneself to the world.
I also want to say that defining African leadership will be a journey, because leadership is a permanent journey – a journey of conversations under the palaver tree, a journey of actions also, because leadership is all about action, a journey towards a future. Then, and only then, the reality will become a new one, and African nations will be able to take their seat at the table of leading countries.