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

When reflecting on leadership development and state capability in Africa, it is important to make a distinction between `political leaders' and `functional leaders'. `Political leaders' everywhere in the world, emerge from society. No system of training, educating, and capacity enhancement can produce `political leaders', such as those we presently have in the continent. `Political leaders', good and bad, emerge from society; they are not trained and cannot be trained. However, they can be better informed through various mechanisms, such as advisors/advisory groups, special committees and think-tanks. They can also learn on the job, from their personal experience and from the experiences of others. This, however, does not constitute formal training or capacity enhancement as ordinarily done by Management and Leadership Development Institutions.

In view of the distinction made between political leaders and functional leaders, it would be more appropriate if, as we engage in any state-focused leadership development endeavour, we focus our attention on building the capabilities of `functional leaders'; that is, on those individuals who are tasked with the responsibilities of effecting policies and/or managing government and its institutional machinery. The central challenge here is: how do we improve the qualities of such individuals so that they can be effective in the transformation of our `weak states', to what Prof. Wiseman Nkuthlu of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) refers to as a `capable state' or, as others prefer, a `developmental state'.

There are substantive differences between, on the one hand the World Bank-driven notion of a `capable state', versus the caricature of a `developmental state'. The basic difference lies in the fact that references to a `developmental state' are rooted in a commitment that we need in Africa _ a state that proactively intervenes to enhance our collective existence and that works at eradicating poverty. If the `development state' is the premise from which we begin, then the challenge is how to go about developing and enhancing the capacities of the `functional leadership' to transform a `weak state' into a `developmental state'. As we engage in this, it is important that we recognise that the `functional leadership' in the continent faces major difficulties of transforming the "weak state" into a "developmental state" in the context of deep structural problems. These include, amongst others, transforming:

• fragmented communities and nations into cohesive and coherent communities and nations, thus giving effect to notions of nationhood and national unity;
• deeply underdeveloped, dependent and poor economies into developmentally sustainable economies that are fundamentally self-reliant;
• uncertain and unpredictable economic environment towards economic environments that are amenable to a long-term sustainable developmental plan;
• deeply unequal societies, characterized by widespread poverty into societies where there is a more equitable distribution of resources and where poverty is substantively reduced or eradicated;
• weak and dysfunctional state structures and institutions into more rational, relevant and effective state institutions;
• undemocratic, intolerant and ego-centered mindsets, cultures and behavior (developed during the one-party state) amongst communities and individuals into open, tolerant and committed cultures and democratic behavior;
• from communities ravaged with deadly and debilitating diseases into communities with basic health facilities and improved standard of living; and
• from communities impacted by economic disruption, frontal attack by foreign cultures and disoriented value systems, into communities which are guided by integrated national value systems.

In view of these transformation challenges, we need to enhance training capacity to produce leaders who can face and cope with these problems in an open democratic manner and with the cooperation of different sections of organized civil society. We need to be optimistic and stand forward in the belief that it is possible to upgrade the existing leadership cadre as well as produce a future committed leadership, that is, functional leaders who will be able to transform our existing crises-ridden situations and resolve some of these problems and contradictions, by transforming existing weak states into developmental states.

This transformation can be brought about through a commitment to self-reliance. Central to this will be enhancing the capabilities of our existing training institutions. This includes our Management Development Institutes (MDIs), our Public Administration Institutes (PAIs) and our Universities or regional capacity development organisations and non-governmental organisations. In so doing, we need to recognise what all our existing institutions are doing. In the case of DPMF, a number of programmes have been initiated to enhance the capacity of `functionaries'. Of these, three particular initiatives are relevant to any leadership capacity development effort. These include, amongst others, the following:

1. Policy Sensitisation Workshops: These workshops bring together functionaries from regional organisations, to sensitise them on important topics such as conflict management; long-term strategic thinking and planning; dealing with diversity and nation building; regional integration; public service reform and policy analyses; and democratic governance.

2. Exchange Forum for Development Management Institutes: This forum seeks to enhance the capacities of MDIs by facilitating dialogues that encourage the MDIs and IPAs to re-examine their curricula and research with a view to incorporating emerging issues that are reflected in the policy sensitization workshops. The forum also serves as a platform for exchanging experiences and good practices and
enhancing the possibilities for cooperation and partnership between the institutions. In December 2002, DPMF organized a workshop of African MDIs and PAIs in which the participants decided to establish a network that would enhance collaboration and work towards strengthening these institutions. The second workshop of the network, now known as AMDIN, was held on 4^th December 2003 during which an Interim Executive Committee was formed and tasked with drafting a constitution, the draft strategic plan was further refined, and working groups on curriculum development and research were established. The General Assembly of AMDIN will convene in December 2004, during which the draft constitution of AMDIN will be debated and endorsed and the strategic plan formally adopted. DPMF, which hosts the Network, has been mandated to coordinate its activities until AMDIN becomes self-sufficient.

3. Establishment of a Governance Institute: Recognising gaps in governance and public policy, the DPMF has been negotiating with various partners to establish a regional training institute of "Public Policy and Governance". In