Praxis Note 25. Learning Leadership Development from African Cultures: A Personal Perspective

Leadership development is currently a very high priority for capacity building in Africa. Practitioner experience, however, would suggest that the plethora of initiatives are largely imported from the West, and tend to have only limited application to the specific African contexts and cultures in which they operate.

This note argues that, to stand any chance of being effective, leadership development in Africa must be rooted in the influential cultural heritage. The note explores aspects of leadership and leadership development in precolonial Africa and draws lessons for leadership development in civil society organisations.