An artistic impression of the African School of Governance (ASG), which will be located in Kigali.
Until a mere five days ago, uttering the words, African School of Governance, which already has a catchy acronym, ASG, would have been met with blank stairs, even some derision. Now any such mention is met with nods of approval, and perhaps some surprise that it took so long to bring the institution into existence.
The brainchild of President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, and former Prime minister of Ethiopia, Haile Mariam Desalegn, the school defines its mission, as “shaping Africa’s future leaders through public policy education & research – Transforming Governance Inspiring Change.”
With a main campus near the Parliament buildings in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, the school is nonetheless a Pan-African institution, and is nothing if not ambitious. Its President, Nigerian Professor Kingsley Moghalu, envisages an institution whose “ambition is to be world class in impact and standard.” He has the board and staff to make the aspiration a reality.
Alongside Haile Mariam Desalegn, who will also be on the teaching staff – it is often forgotten that he went into politics from academia – is Dr Donald Kaberuka, an economist, whose breadth of experience makes him overqualified for almost any role. He is perhaps now best known for leading the African Development Bank, but his many years as Rwanda’s Minister of Finance, at a time when the country had no finances to minister, is arguably the most significant period in a highly distinguished career.
Dr. Donald Kaberuka.
They are joined on the board, by other notables, among them, Senegal’s Makhtar Diop, Director of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), former Singaporean ambassador to the United Nations, Kishore Mahbubani.
Equally impressive is the staff, or as they term them, the Academic Executive Affairs team, that has so far been announced.
For anyone who may be concerned that the school will be little more than an imitation, or recreation of its Western counterparts, the rousing and unflinchingly self-critical key note remarks, from Haile Mariam Desalegn, might be more than reassuring.
“Africa is a continent rich in history, innovation, culture…and resources, which has contributed greatly to the world, over centuries. As a cradle of humanity, Africa gave birth to great civilisations…all of which have helped the world develop as we know it today. Tragically, much of this historical account of our continent, has been erased and lost and a new narrative of poverty, destitution, dependence and mismanagement, has emerged as a dominant description of Africa…”
“Everywhere you look, Africa’s more recent history of governance, resembles mimicking, and is still dominated by remnants of the age of exploration [European Exploration] and the age of slave trade, and colonial era, which led to the disintegration of many of these civilisations, and the long period of stagnation or even regression…while the rest of the world has surged ahead in their development…On many accounts, it is a narrative not just from those outside of Africa, but a shared narrative that many Africans have come to accept ourselves, perpetuated by an era and class of Africans disconnected from our historical past…”
“The school therefore, emerges from a shared view of His Excellency, President Paul Kagame, myself, and several other African leaders, advocating the motto, ‘leadership matters.’ And one of the greatest things holding Africa back, is a clear deficit in leadership, that is fit for purpose.”
Senior officials who attended the launch event.
Rwanda’s minister of education, Joseph Nsengimana, welcomed the decision to open the school in Rwanda. Speaking on behalf of the government and the ministry, he said the country was “deeply proud to host this remarkable institution, which is poised to become a centre of excellence, in leadership and governance, across the African continent…”
“Rwanda’s own journey, stands as testament to what visionary governance, ethical leadership, and steadfast commitment to progress can achieve” he said, adding, “from the ashes of adversity, we have built a nation that champions unity, innovation and sustainable development…”
As befits a member of the governing body, Dr Kaberuka emphasised that the school would not and should not be too prone to naval gazing.
“Congratulations from everyone who has been involved in this exercise, beginning with our President [Kagame] and [former] Prime minister Haile Mariam…thank you very much for thinking about this…All the partners who have supported this…Thank you very much, and all the leaders who have been involved…Thank you very much for what you have done…”
“Leadership and governance” he continued, “is not simply an African problem, it is a global problem. I think the world today is in serious short measure about leadership and governance…So, I am hoping that the African School of Governance, is not about figuring out how to correct things we have done wrong, which we need to do right, it’s about how we can contribute to a new landscape globally.”
“There are some things we Africans have got wrong, that is a fact, but as you say PM [Haile Mariam Desalegn] there are many things we have done right. But so is Asia, so is Latin America, so is Europe, so is the US, so is everywhere.”
Kingsley Moghalu, President ASG.
“So, it’s all of us today in the world, a struggle about what kind of world we want to create. The challenge of this school is to be part of that conversation. Yes, we have issues of corruption, of governance of conflict, of bad leadership…But I am one of those who are skeptical that actually our governance deficit is any less than say Latin America, or Asia or the Middle East, Europe or even North America…”
“And so, I think for us, for this school of governance, how do we project our view of the world, in the new landscape? If we do that, we shall have done service to Africa and the world…”
“We have had a situation since 1945, where attempts to shape a global order have progressively faced huge amounts of deficit, everywhere, from different levels…Our school of governance must begin from the viewpoint that we accept things that we have done wrong…but this is our view of the world. We are not here to be on the defensive that we have done things wrong, now we must get things right. That’s my concern…”
“In the 1960s, if you asked many people in the world, ‘what does Africa need?’ They would tell you Africa needs money, it needs capital, and so aid organisations were created, international organisations were created to provide this capital for Africa. By the time I was doing my Masters degree, the speeches had changed. They said Africa does not need just money, it needs good policies…But whose policies? So, we ended up with policies, as defined by the neo-liberal establishment in the West. Yes, we needed good policies, but whose policies, who defines those policies…?
“By the time I was finishing my doctorate, the narrative had changed. It was no longer about policies, it was now ‘execution capacity.’ So, build capacity, so, the likes of Mckinsey [Mckinsey&Company Consultants], were very busy building capacity…I agree, we needed capital, we needed policies and we needed capacity, sure. By the time I began my career, there was a new narrative.”
ASG was launched in Kigali.
“Now we need governance. And later, we need institutions. The problem is, all those things are needed…but the problem is who defines the content?”
Dr Kaberuka then related how, when he was first elected to lead the African Development Bank, he was persuaded to do what he subsequently saw as a mistake. He was asked to spend two years at a business school in the West, which he preferred to keep anonymous (a somewhat futile exercise, given how easy it would be to find out).
The school, he said, admitted young, brilliant Africans, to whom it more or less said, “’we are who we are, this is how we do things, we are the best in the world, so go out and do what we do and you’ll be fine.’ I could not agree with that, so I was happy to leave.”
“And so, when I see a school like this being founded, I have very high hopes and aspirations…let us not begin on the foundations that somehow Africa is an exception in the world, in terms of governance deficit or leadership deficit. There are many things happening in the world today, outside Africa, which is frankly something we must all work together with, Africans must be part of that conversation.”
Crucially, the school aims to take students based on qualifications, other than ability to pay. It expects to open in July of this year.
