‘Africa lacks strong managerial skills’

Development in Africa: Identifying Areas of Impact” shows that poor management is hurting the effectiveness of global multinational corporations, many major local companies, small- and medium-sized firms and charitable foundations in many African countries.
“We believe good management is the missing link in the African growth story. Good managers make things happen, and we urgently need more of them,” says Mr Jonathan Cook, AMI chairman and director of the Gordon Institute of Business Science and a board member of the Association of African Business Schools.
“One million seems like an ambitious target, but we need ambition if we are to build a well-managed continent,” adds Mr Cook.
AMI is a non-profit and multi-stakeholder drive to expand access to management education and training in Africa and to promote management best practice across the continent.
It was started by the Association of African Business Schools, Global Business Schools Network, the Lundin Foundation and the Tony Elumelu Foundation, and it welcomes new partners, sponsors and donors.
The research indicates that there is a lack of accessible, high quality and relevant management education and training options in Africa. At the top end of the market, Africa lacks high quality business schools attuned to the needs of its dynamic markets.
Lower down the scale, there is a lack of practical and accessible programmes that can reach small to medium enterprises, middle managers and entrepreneurs.
To help meet the gap highlighted in the research, AMI recently launched a virtual campus for managers in Africa. The web-based portal, supported by online and offline networking opportunities, draws on AMI’s links with Africa’s top business schools. It provides original case studies, a crowd-sourced manager’s toolbox of tools and templates, expert views from top executives, discussion forums, top reads from around the web, a marketplace of training and education providers, jobs, research and a member’s showcase to name a few.
Members of the virtual campus — which is currently free to join — also sign a pledge to uphold the highest standards of management performance and responsibility. The virtual campus can be accessed at www.africanmanagers.org.
“This network will provide managers with key learning resources, the opportunity for personal branding, networking, and a platform for knowledge-sharing,” explained Ms Rebecca Harrison, AMI programme director.
“Ultimately, we aim to formally certify managers who uphold the standards we promote through the virtual campus.”
AMI’s research estimates that of 111 million Africans in formal employment, about 11 million of these are in managerial or supervisory roles.
“In order to substantially improve the quality of management across Africa, we need to reach 10 percent of those managers — one million managers,” said Mr Cook.
AMI is partnering with a range of organisations and companies with a goal of meeting that target by 2023. For instance, it has developed a blueprint for an entrepreneurial African business school that can be started for US$2 million to US$5 million, and will be piloted in Nigeria next year by the Tony Elumelu Foundation.
AMI is also supporting the Lundin Foundation to create a model for low-cost training and development for African small- and medium-sized businesses.
AMI conducted over 50 in-depth interviews with 40 organisations, including employers, educators, thought leaders and, training providers, consultants, investors and entrepreneurs.
The research report also drew on secondary data from academic literature and reports from development institutions, as well as desk research into existing programmes and foundations.