Perspectives on Thought Leadership for Africa’s Renewal

This book outlines perspectives of emerging and established African scholars on what one could describe as the debate on leadership and the articulation of the life of the mind in Africa’s socio-economic, political and cultural life from the time of independence to date. The papers contained in the book cover the following thematic areas: Alternative Leadership Paradigm for Africa’s Advancement; African Perspectives on Globalisation and International Relations; Pan-Africanism and the African Renaissance; Scientific, Technological and Cultural Dimensions of African Development. The first section deals with alternative leadership paradigms for Africa’s advancement. It also debates the ‘thin line’ separating management studies from leadership studies and untangles the hermeneutic complexities in the term ‘leadership’. Section two examines among other things, the crucial challenge of globalisation and public ethics and offers African perspectives. The section also interrogates the current complexities and credibility deficits in the global governance of trade and towards the end engages philosophical questions about conscience and consciousness in African development and progress. The debates in section three continue to section four and focus on the overall issues of language and liberation, the significance of Multi-, Inter- and Trans-Disciplinary Approaches in the analysis of the African continent, appropriate indigenous paradigms for promoting the African renaissance as well as a series of debates on the meaning and prospects of regional integration in Africa’s renewal. This provides just a snapshot of a very wide-ranging and interesting debate contained in the publication.

Part I
1. Introduction: Africa’s ‘Unended Quest’ for Emancipation – North Africa and Beyond

Part II: Thematic Papers
2. Wounded Healers and Transformative Leadership: Towards Revolutionary Ethics
3. Responsibility and Governance
4. Evolving Thoughts on the Afro-optimism – Afro-pessimism Debate

Part III
Section I: Alternative Leadership Paradigm for Africa’s Advancement
5. Leadership, the Oldest Practice and Youngest Discipline: Clearing the Path to the African Renaissance
6. The King’s Justice: An Example of Leadership
7. Educating African Leaders about the Ideals of Leadership: Lessons from Mohlomi, the African Philosopher Chief
8. RARE Leadership: An Alternative Leadership Approach for Africa
9. Intellectual Leadership: The Alternative Leadership Paradigm for Africa’s Advancement
10. Epistemic Pluralism for Knowledge Transformation
11. A Proposal for a Programme to Promote African Scholars: Lessons Drawn from the History of the World Council of Churches and its Programme to Combat Racism
12. Securing Africa’s Renaissance: The Youth as Potential and Challenge for African Leadership in the 21st Century
Section II: African Perspectives on Globalisation and International Relations
13. African Ownership of Own Policy Agenda
14. Globalisation and Public Ethics: An African Perspective
15. The Global Governance of Trade and Economic Development in Africa: Assessing the Impact of Neoliberalism
16. The World Trade Organization: For Which World? Whose Trade? And Whose Organisation?
17. The Peace and Security Council of the African Union at Work: The Case of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan
18. A Perspective on Paradigms for Africa and the African Diaspora’s Involvement in a Globalising World
19. The Impact of Colonised African Historiography among Diaspora Populations: The Case of Kongo Kingdom Historical Narratives
20. Invention and Innovation for the Development of Africa
21. The Use of Technology and Leadership in Enhancing Strategic Cooperative Policing within the SADC
22. The Significance of Infrastructure Development in the Realisation of Sustainable Development in Africa: The Case of Research and Development
23. Prosperous African Women Traders in the Last Decades of Slavery in Brazil
24. The State, Politics and the Democratic Consolidation of Africa

Section III: Pan-Africanism and the African Renaissance
25. A Strategy for the Promotion of Swahili in Africa and its Relevance for Linguistic Decolonisation and African Cultural Renaissance Projects
26. African Renaissance and Leadership: A Critical Analysis of the Continent from a Multi-, Inter- and Transdisciplinary Approach
27. Challenges and Prospects for Building on the Indigenous: An Appropriate Paradigm for Promoting the African Renaissance
28. A Working Model for African Development: Intra-African Trade and Investment
29. African Economic Renaissance as a Paradigm for Africa’s Socioeconomic Development
30. Pan-Africanism and the African Renaissance: Extracating Paradigms of Underdevelopment
31. New Perspectives on Integration in Africa
32. Merging, Streamlining and Mainstreaming Regional Integration Efforts – a Solution to Some of the Challenges to Regional Cooperation in Africa
33. In Quest of Regional Integration in Africa: Can NEPAD Reconcile Economic Plurilateralism with Developmental Regionalism

Section IV: Scientific, Technological and Cultural Dimensions of African Development
34. ‘I am an African, I speak an African Language’
35. Our Own Regeneration of Ourselves: Challenges for Grassroots Mobilisation for Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS)
36. Diversity and Social Cohesion in Africa: A Blueprint for the Culture of Ubuntu
37. Remembering My Ways of Knowing and Learning while ‘Learning Otherwise’
38. South African Scientists and Engineers Leading the Walk to Innovation
39. African Research and Development Surveys: Highlights from the South African Success
40. A Call to Arms: Enlisting the Skills of University Graduates to Teach and Inspire South Africa’s Children
41. Africa Unknown: Addressing the Effects of an Alienating Education among Learners in South Africa
42. Computing for Africa’s Global Competitiveness: Examining the Use of Computational Electromagnetics as a Tool for Development
43. Toward Positioning Africa at the Forefront of Science and Technology Advancements in the 21st Century
44. Exploring Developmental and Community Informatics
45. Innovation Gateway Provision for Rural Small Business Development for Global Competitiveness