Unisa online - Africa's decade of change

Prof Valiant Clapper, acting CEO and Executive Director of the Unisa Graduate School for Business Leadership (SBL)

The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) celebrated its tenth anniversary on 28 March 2012 at the African Union Commission Conference Centre under the general theme of Africa’s decade of Change: Accelerating NEPAD implementation through domestic financing.  Prof Valiant Clapper, acting CEO and Executive Director of the Unisa Graduate School for Business Leadership (SBL), who also served as guest panelist and invited speaker, represented SBL at the event.  The more than eight hundred participants included H.E. Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister of Ethiopia; H.E. Olusegun Obasanjo, former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; H.E. Jerry Rawlings, former President of the Republic of Ghana; the UN Under Secretary General, and Dr Ibrahim Mayaki, the CEO of NEPAD. 

H.E. Meles Zenawi addressed the congregation on the topic “unlocking Africa’s growth potential”, laying emphasis on the need for Africa not to be misled by nieu-colonialism, and to usurp its independence by developing its rich continental resources and increase its capacity to play its international economic role without fear or favour.  Both Obasanjo and Rawlings spoke favourably of the developmental role of Nepad over the last decade, and acknowledged South Africa’s indispensable position in the partnership.  Erstwhile President Thabo Mbeki received particular mention with respect to his articulation of the African Renaissance ideals relative to Nepad. 

Prof Clapper presented to the panel a paper entitled “Prospects of a rising continent”, and responded to the question, “what are the continental leadership development requirements up to 2050”?  Starting from the premise that “the future is not what it used to be”, he urged Nepad leaders, and continental role players to approach the impending unpredictability by insisting on the transformation of leadership morality on the continent; an aspect that particularly H.E. Jerry Rawlings eloquently emphasised during his presentation. Prof Clapper proposed that such moral transformation should have, as a primary goal, the validation of Africans (particularly women and children) as beneficiaries and users of resources rather than as “human resources” (as per the classical business economics definition), or commodities (as was the case during the slave trade), or as collateral damage (as is typical during war and genocide continentally).  He emphasised that “leadership development over the ensuing decades should focus on forging developmental partnerships that will explore, develop and utilise continental resources towards the promotion of human rights and poverty alleviation rather than human exploitation.” 

“Leadership education and training must foster and promote the aspirations expressed in so many of African continental constitutions” he argued.  In addition, he proposed the pursuit of an ethos of intergenerational sustainability, and particularly the development of a morality among young people (i.e., tomorrow’s leaders) that is other-regarding rather than self-serving.  He informed the audience that the Unisa vision, viz., the pursuit of being the African University in service of humanity, is what inspires the current Unisa Graduate School of Business Leadership to develop and harness its resources to assist the continent in educating and training just such current and future leaders.