DPMN Bulletin: Special Issue, Volume X, Number 5, November 2003

Aime Cessaire suggested that "There are two ways of losing oneself: through fragmentation in the particular or dilution in the universal". The challenge in getting a grip on Africa in general and discussing "Africanising Public Administration" in particular is one of "How do we understand the particularity of `African' without losing sense of universal/ widely shared knowledge, experience and history?" A further dilemma is to factor in sufficient distinction and diversity within the concept of "African". We need to be very weary of an uncritical perception that suggests similarity and unanimity in value and behaviour across a very big continent which experienced many diverse influences and that has consequently developed its own systems on different tracts. We also need to be careful to label something as "African" simply because it is voiced, demonstrated or embraced by a person from African origin. If the Zulu warrior Shaka believed in a particular management philosophy, does it make it African by definition or is it Shaka's personal (or at best a Zulu) philosophy? In these matters we need to be very careful how we move from the specific to the general.

A critical assessment of the status of public administration and governance on the African continent today will reveal the mark left by various colonial processes. At the same time we have to be aware of the neglect of indigenous administrative models and efforts and the reliance, sometimes excessively so, on foreign models. Notwithstanding the importance of public sector leadership in the continent, we are faced with
more questions than answers and the empirical base for further engagements on this issue is fairly thin. It is thus critical that there be further research and dialogue on the leadership challenge and, in particular, on how we might visualise and establish specific leadership development interventions. In so doing, this brief input is directed at raising some of the critical challenges and questions. These include:

· What are the unique challenges that are facing African leadership at the beginning of the 21^st Century? What are the demands that these challenges will place on the leadership style _ both administratively and politically speaking?

· Is there some challenge lodged in the political-administrative interface in Africa given our history that is different from other parts of the world? Does these pose its own unique challenges for both political and administrative leadership? What would these be and how are we to respond successfully?

· Is there a uniquely African leadership style that has been corrupted by the colonial experience? What are the essential elements of such a style? Is it possible to regenerate this? Will such a style be amenable to the context of the modern state? Can Africa contribute to the development of international public administration thinking?

· What are the challenges in terms of leadership development in Africa? What curricula are we to use? How do we manage the influences that come through the literature that we read, the cases that we study, the tools that we teach?

· How are we to manage the mobility of human capital in order to prevent a braindrain from Africa in general, and the public service specifically?

· How are African leaders managing diversity on ethnical, cultural, linguistic and religious grounds?

Given our shortcomings in terms of empirical research and understanding, is it possible for us to draw from our African philosophical routes in order to re-establish African thinking on the field? Many would argue that it would be difficult. In the first instance the ancient African philosophy is in general not sufficiently adequate for conditions of the modern African state. They are also very conservatively minded. Modern African philosophy is also found wanted for purposes of giving
direction to public administration. Scholars of African philosophy indicate that this genre of philosophy is very biased and morally much too simple to provide direction. With few exceptions such as the francophone philosophers/ political scientists Achille Mbembe and Amadou Hampate Ba, the philosophical underpinnings for a modern Africanised public administration is fairly deplete.

Nevertheless, there is some undeniable influence in the African mindset and value system that distinguishes it from that of a more Western or Eurocentric approach and that is relevant for our thinking about public administration and hence, public sector leadership development. In some instances, these represent an ideal-type organisational behaviour that others are hankering to imitate and embrace in their own management style and organisations.

In research carried out in 1995 entitled "Toward a Theory of Afrocentric Organizations", it was found that the Afrocentric organisation is based on the philosophical orientation of harmony, spirituality and humanistic/ people-oriented principles with basic administration elements that include support of all members, communal management style and prioritising people over profit. These characteristics contrast sharply with the Eurocentric organisational model
that tends to embrace materialism, hierarchical control, bottom-line profits and competition (See Warfield-Coppock, N. 1995. Toward a theory of Afrocentric organizations. Journal of Black Psychology, Vol. 21, No. 1: 30-48 (February)).

In terms of the applied relevance vis-à-vis the NEPAD initiative and the work of the African Union, the ongoing discourse and advocacy of these matters are important to raise the profile of public administration and the implications thereof in terms of Africa's development needs and agenda. Currently the trend is to focus on the political dimension of governance, with public administration and public sector leadership development issues being relegated to the periphery of the work in the African Union as well as in NEPAD initiatives. This situation needs to be remedied if we are not to face serious problems further along the road to Africa's recovery.

In terms of the restoration of African influence in public administration and public sector leadership development on the continent as well as exporting our insights to the mainstream of current public administration and governance thinking, the responsibility rests on academics to take up the challenge to improve our understanding of our uniquely African position on these matters.

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* Ms. Fraser-Moleketi is South Africa's Minister of Public Service and Administration and Chairperson of the 4^th Pan-African Conference of African Ministers of Public Service.
¹ This article is based on thoughts initially presented as opening remarks at the colloquium/ anniversary of the School of Public Administration at the University of Pretoria, 20 October 2003.