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Insights and Strategies in Leadership | Leadership Insights Blog
Here we bring together writing on governance, economic development, and institutional performance.
The work is shaped by practical experience. It reflects ongoing questions around how institutions function, how policy translates into outcomes, and what holds back progress in real terms.
How Africa can instil entrepreneurship as a tool of development
Over the past 20 years, Africa has been steadily growing and is expected remain one of the fast growing regions in the near future. Central to this is entrepreneurship and the role of entrepreneurs. The idea of entrepreneurship proposed here is one where African people play a key role in economic activities. They study and practice entrepreneurship in a focused fashion in order to control their own economic destinies. In this way, entrepreneurship becomes a conscious lifelon
A blueprint for bringing local economies to life in South Africa
South Africa needs a radical change in its approach to local economic development. Beyond social security and central government transfers, each district and local municipal area needs a clear plan to attract investment and create jobs. These plans should address the two facets of economic sophistication. The first is to increase the range of products and services offered. Reliance on just one product or service should be reduced. The second is an emphasis on developing own t
Why Africa could do with a dose of punctuality and cleanliness
There are two features of life on the African continent that are fundamentally deadly to socioeconomic development. These are lack of cleanliness and punctuality. There is plenty of discussion on macro and micro economics and the big theories of economic development, but it seems the African worldview is a primary problem. It is opportune to discuss more fundamental inhibitors to economic development and growth. In my view this entails a fundamental change in how things get d
If Africa grows its universities cleverly, its economies will flourish
The idea of “education for the masses” – rapidly increasing university enrolment rates – has changed the face of higher education in the past 50 years. The term “massification” has been adopted to describe it. Universities in the US, Britain, Russia, China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Japan and South Korea lead the pack when it comes to opening their doors to more students. These countries’ institutions also perform well by any measure of research and postgraduate outpu
What’s needed to take Africa from Third to First World in 25 years
12 July 2016 - Sandile Swana and Lumkile Mondi One of the most hotly debated topics in development economics is: what does it take to steer a poor country from Third World to First World status? One of the most hotly debated topics in development economics is: what does it take to steer a poor country from Third World to First World status? It is a debate of particular relevance in Africa, which is home to a large number of countries in the Third World category . It also has
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