Are African schools training the next generation of leaders?

Are African schools training the next generation of leaders in an adequate way. The problem of Africa is not poverty, nor is it the lack of resources. It is simply a lack of leadership. Leadership around the continent is woefully lacking, which is why we often dread when an African country is going to hold an election. Granted, elections alone are not a determinant of whether a country has a strong leadership culture. In that respect then, how well are African schools and universities preparing the current students to be able to take up leadership positions in future?

To train the next generation of leaders, African schools and universities must create a curriculum that nurtures leadership training and one that will ensure that the future African leaders can contribute meaningfully to the continent's growth. We could look at two examples of schools that are already setting the trend of training the next generation of African leaders. At the South Africa based African leadership Academy (ALA), the
students are drawn from all over the African continent, and they are taught African studies, entrepreneurship, and academics geared towards the development of Africa. The college preparatory school has managed to place its students in leading universities around the world, and the school expects that the students will return back and help to develop Africa.

Still, another example of a school that has purposed to train the next generation of African leaders is Aseshi University in Accra, Ghana. The school was founded by Ghanaian Patrick Awuah, a former Microsoft engineer, and one of the thousands of millionaires churned out by Microsoft. The school teaches entrepreneurship, African studies, and a liberal arts curriculum that encourages the inculcation of creativity and critical thinking. This is an education that Mr. Awuah received at Swarthmore college, and he would want to pass the same to his students.

While the above are just two examples, the fact is that the schools present a fresh perspective on how to train the next generation of leaders, and ensure that they impact Africa in innumerable ways now and in the future.