This study is my own reflection on my participation in the Strong Nations for Africa Programme, a remarkable capacity-building programme for senior public-sector officials in Africa. This prestigious programme provides networking opportunities for distinguished officials such as Permanent Secretaries, Directors-General, etc., who are operating in the field of governance and national development. The entrance is very competitive and my group was made up of 34 participants from various countries and professions in Africa. The peculiar feature of the programme is its global educational format that includes various strategic learning and leadership activities which were conducted both within Africa and in Singapore. What I liked the most about it was this unique platform for people striving to establish high-performing governments, which echoes with my own aspirations in the field of governance and public sector reforms.
The programme featured a large range of participants and offered an opportunity to learn from leading professionals and researchers, while examining how institutional development, cohesion, human-capital development, leadership, and government delivery have been defined in different countries. Most importantly, the experience gave me a chance to think on how these findings can be interpreted and put into practice in the conditions of Somalia.
Thus, this article does not only describe the programme. It explains governance and leadership lessons received through the programme and assesses their importance for the state-building process of Somalia. It states that best practices from successful models of governance and development cannot just be copied and implemented. They need to be modified accordingly to local conditions. As such, the article gives a description of the principles of effective governance: how to develop visionary leadership, accountability, merit-based public service, institutional discipline, nation-building, human-capital development, effective implementation, and service provision.
The experience of Strong Nations for Africa confirmed my view that Somalia’s journey toward harmony, stability, and prosperity does not depend on the institutions alone, but rather on their leadership and governance, and on how well they are able to serve the people.
You can read the full report at the link below.
Stewarding Strong Nations Personal Reflections on Leadinship, Governance, and Nation-Building.