World Peace Foundation: Projects: African Leadership

Projects:
African Leadership

This project is premised on the proposition that political leadership in Africa is weaker than it should be and needs to be. It further asserts that future African leaders can learn from the examples of Asia, Europe, and the Americas about how to strengthen their own ability to guide small and large countries in order to benefit citizens rather than themselves or ruling cliques. It suggests that conflict and civil war (which provide reservoirs for terror) stem from bad leadership and leadership mistakes. It seeks to strengthen the capacity of future African leaders to be responsible, honest, and wise—to avoid future leadership debacles like those presided over by Presidents Moi, Mobutu, Mugabe, Siad Barre, and Idi Amin. Conflict can be reduced in Africa if more broad-minded leaders of integrity are in charge.

The project involves the participation of a set of a dozen or more present and former African heads of state and present and past cabinet ministers in deciding what is to be done about the problems of African leadership and how best, in their minds, to build capacity for better leadership and better governance in Africa. In 2003, the group met at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge, Mass., and in Gaborone, Botswana.

The group met again in early 2004 in Kenya at the invitation of Vice President Moody Awori, where it formed the African Leadership Council and released its Mombasa Declaration, as well as a Mission Statement, Code of African Leadership, and Capacity Building Curriculum. President Ketumile Masire was selected as the first chairman of the African Leadership Council. The Council delivered the documents to the African Union, to the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), and to heads of state in Africa. The Council now seeks to add to its membership, particularly by recruiting senior women and senior leaders from Africa. The African Leadership Council is now ready to assist leaders, governments, and international organizations in meeting the many challenges of leadership in Africa, and seeks to sponsor capacity building seminars for leaders in Africa and at the Kennedy School.

Publications on African Leadership

Robert Rotberg examines the best and worst examples of African leadership, and asks: Why do so many African leaders go so wrong? Will a new generation of Africans follow Mandela's model instead? For more information, click below.

Robert I. Rotberg, "Strengthening African Leadership," Foreign Affairs, LXXXIII (July/August, 2004)

Robert I. Rotberg, "The Roots of Africa's Leadership Deficit," Compass, I (2003).

FULL ARTICLE: Learning through Projects: Solving for African Governance, Leadership, and Corruption