Competent local managers critical to Africa’s development - AMI

The African Management Initiative (AMI) is leading a campaign to build a critical mass of African managers, supported by high-quality schools and resources, and working in dynamic organisations that allow talents to flourish.

According to the AMI, a larger pool of competent local managers is critical to drive competitive African private and public sectors, and to cultivate knowledge-base economies, as well as to achieve development goals.

A report by the AMI formed by the Association of African Business Schools, the Global Business School Network, the Tony Elumelu Foundation and the Lundin Foundation, identified an acute shortage of quality managers as a major bottleneck for growth in Africa.

Though foreign investment is said to be on the rise, with Africa’s economic growth among the fastest in the world, the growth is rapidly draining the pool of local managers.

The report titled, “Catalyzing Management Development in Africa”, estimated that Africa’s formal labour force of 111 million includes approximately 11 million managers.

Therefore, to entrench the practice of good management, there is need to ensure that at least one in 10 million of them (over 1 million managers) are equipped with the knowledge needed to drive the continent’s next phase of development.

According to the research, the biggest need is in the middle of the organizational pyramid. Interviewees cited a huge gap between senior executives who enjoy the benefits of international business schools and work experience, and a much less able engine room of middle and lower level managers. This gap leads to execution problems.

It showed that many African organizations are hierarchical and constrained by ‘founder syndrome’; therefore, there is need for programmes that will coach senior leaders in developing the organizational culture systems that allow their own managers to flourish.

Also, employers outlined the kind of skills and qualities they required from managers. These include; personal drive; planning skills; ethics and integrity; critical thinking skills; practical experience and flexibility.

The report revealed that Africa has roughly 90 business schools offering an MBA (one per 11 million people) compared to India that has over 1, 500 MBA-offering schools. Less than 10 of these African institutions measure up to international standards.

While South Africa and parts of North Africa are said to be strong, Central and West Africa are woefully underserved. The AMI report said many local business schools are low quality, overly academic and out of step with the requirements of fast growing African economies.

On the other hand, the non-academic management training market is fragmented and of generally low quality. “We urgently need high-quality and affordable institutions and programmes at this level, which can also reach rural and underserved urban areas”, stated the report.

The research recommended that Africa should have its own models for management education and development with potential for real scale. It cited four areas for possible action; inputs, providers, organizational enablers and quality assurance.