Transforming Rwanda
Digital transformation, the fourth industrial revolution, has the potential to deliver economic growth to Rwanda, but only if its talent can be nurtured
We’ve arrived in Kigali, capital of Rwanda. One of Africa’s smallest countries, surrounded by Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, it is home to about 11 million people as well as a dwindling population of mountain gorillas. Kigali is also home to the 2016 African World Economic Forum (WEF) and I am here with colleagues from Johannesburg and London. The theme is: Connecting Africa’s Resources through Digital Transformation.
Talking to business leaders in Kigali, it’s clear that while Africa’s ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’ has the capacity to deliver economic growth and prosperity, it will only do so if the talent exists to make it happen. Yet the reality is that the continent faces a range of ‘people issues’, from shortfalls in education and skills shortages in key managerial and technical areas to a lack of free movement and talent mobility and the under-representation of women in senior ranks of business leaders.e’ve arrived in Kigali, capital of Rwanda. One of Africa’s smallest countries, surrounded by Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, it is home to about 11 million people as well as a dwindling population of mountain gorillas. Kigali is also home to the 2016 African World Economic Forum (WEF) and I am here with colleagues from Johannesburg and London. The theme is: Connecting Africa’s Resources through Digital Transformation.
For example, only six per cent of young people in Africa are enrolled in higher education, compared to a global average of 26 per cent. Moreover, many degrees are of little use in the employment market because they don’t equip graduates with the basic technical and transferable skills required by modern employers.
Developing the talent pipeline is essential if African organisations are to nurture tomorrow’s business leaders. That’s why Google announced in April that it plans to offer digital skills training programmes to 1 million Africans over the next year.
This longer-term, sustainable approach is also key to starting to address the shortage of senior level management talent – particularly for technical roles such as CIOs, CTOs and CISOs – so much so that some executives will stay only months before being lured away by a rival company with a hugely inflated remuneration package.
One solution is for organisations to invest in developing talent themselves and to build cultures that support learning, mentoring and coaching and encourage self-development. In fact, one of the most interesting conversations we have had at Kigali was at a private dinner hosted by the chair of a major multinational to explore how talent development can be accelerated more effectively. As a result, we have been invited to assist in a small working group as part of a pilot project to tackle this challenge.
We also work with WEF, helping them select innovative, enterprising and socially minded men and women under 40 who are invited to join a five-year leadership journey as part of the Young Global Leaders programme.
Take Christopher Ategeka from the Class of 2016. He is a Ugandan social entrepreneur who founded Rides for Lives, a not-for-profit that builds mobile health units equipped with a doctor, lab and pharmacy. To date, it has served more than 500,000 people. It’s these young leaders who have the future of the country in their hands. Supporting them is essential.
As the conference draws to a close and we say our goodbyes to this remarkable place of lakes, hills and forests, we cannot help but be impressed by the passion and energy of those committed to make Africa a success story – with such an impetus now, it’s just a question of time before Africa starts to deliver on its full potential for growth and can benefit from social prosperity.
There is no doubt that coaching and mentoring initiatives will help to support this transformation.
- Allen Shardelow is partner in charge in Heidrick & Struggles’ Johannesburg office