Preparing Tomorrow’s African Leaders Today: Interview with Prof. Ncube

Prof. Mthuli Ncube


By Mawutodzi K. Abissath

There is a Ghanaian proverb which says: “If your friend is more handsome than you, you must admit it and praise him; rather than trying to envy and denigrate him.”

Undoubtedly, one positive legacy the defunct apartheid South Africa bequeathed modern South Africa is excellent educational system. What one may condemn is the fact that, perhaps in the past, only the “White” mostly benefited from that outstanding educational system to the detriment of the “Black.” It is hoped things are changing and rightly so, for the advance of humanity, regardless of colour of the skin.

This author is not unaware that since the end of the apartheid system in South Africa in the early 1990s, many African citizens from various parts of the continent including Ghana, have been receiving both professional and academic training in some of the institutions of higher learning in that country. This trends of event is very commendable and must be maintained and sustained if the entire African continent is to disentangle itself from the shackles of poverty and squalor in the midst of abundant natural resources on this planet of interdependence.

Wits Business School (WBS) of the University of Witwatersrand, is one the outstanding institutions of high learning which has distinguished itself in the training of future leaders in Africa. The School’s motto Sculpting Global Leaders in Africa speaks for itself. Since its establishment in 1968, WBS is said to have undergone tremendous leadership changes. This year, the School is poised to celebrate its 40th anniversary in higher education in grand style. Records show that the contribution of WBS to the business community in South Africa for the past 40 years cannot be overemphasised.

It is against this backdrop that this author set out to conduct this online interview with the Director and Head of the School, Professor Mthuli Ncube. The object of the interview is to find out what has made WBS what it is today. What is its prospect for the next 40 years? But then when I took a glance at the Prof’s profile, it did not take long to conclude to myself I was dealing with a man of a thousand lives. In other words, one may not be too wide of the mark to describe Professor Ncube as a multi-talented soul personality!

When I got to know that Prof. Ncube was once a Visiting Scholar in the Research Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and conscious of the fact that the IMF and the World Bank are sometimes perceived globally of being institutions that hardly grant loans to developing countries without strings attached, my first question to him was to share his experiences with the Fund to the rest of the African media.

Frankly, I was not only intrigued but also fascinated by the way Prof. Ncube answered my loaded question in one simple and straightforward sentence. He wrote: “The IMF was created, largely as a provider of Balance of Payments support to distressed economies.”

Second question: “What would be your personal assessment of the financial support of the Fund (IMF) over the years to the economic prosperity of developing countries, especially African nations?”

Answer: “The financial assistance from the IMF to Africa has been appropriate. It was mainly targeted at Balance of Payments (BOP) support. What was missing in the reform programs is support for institutional reforms, which largely explain the ineffectiveness of the reform programs,” he pointed out.

On the actual issue of my interview, which was the 40^th anniversary celebration of WBS, I requested the Professor to tell me how he came to be associated with that famous University of Witwatersrand of which he is the Director and Head of School of Business Administration. In other words, I wanted him to inform the rest of Africa about some of WBS’s achievements over the past 40 years, challenges and the way forward.

Hear him: “I joined with Wits Business School in 2005 as a Professor of Finance and was subsequently appointed Director of the School by the University. The challenges of the School are the attraction and retention of lecturers in the face of uncompetitive salaries in universities. However, the School has produced some of the most successful entrepreneurs and managers in the country. Going forward, the challenge is to grow our presence and relevance in the rest of the African continent, and stay competitive globally.”

My next question to Prof. Ncube was to find out whether his University has any plans for preparing future African leaders in terms of programs aimed at educating students for effective financial management of the unlimited natural resources of the continent, such as gold, uranium, diamond, oil and so on.

His response was to the point: “The School has launched a program for training future leaders in Africa, the Pan African Leadership Program. The School has various programs in finance and one jointly with Imperial College, UK, for managers in the mining sector.”

The final question I put to the Professor was this: “What is the position of WBS in the scheme of African Universities at the moment and what would the University be doing differently in the next 40 years of its existence?”

Simple answer from Prof. Ncube thus: “In the next forty years the School will become more involved in training leaders and managers in Africa – “Sculpting Global Leaders in Africa.”

If I were to pass any comment on this brief interaction with Professor Ncube through this online interview, I would simply say that this is a man who knows his left from the right. Period!

Ghana’s Community Information Centres Project On Course

Dr Ashitey Trebi-Ollennu, Member of the NASA Mars Rover Mission, US (Source: AP Photo/NASA, Bill Ingralls

By Mawutodzi K. Abissath

Shall we refresh our memory with this simple but tricky African proverb which says: “If your hair is dirty and you do not submit your head to a Barber, nobody will cut the hair for you.” To wit: “No initiative, no end result.”

Information and Communication Technology ICT has not only succeeded in transforming the world into a miniature community but has made it possible for mankind to be developing another dwelling place beyond the moon besides the planet Earth. But it seems to this author that the rate at which other continents are scrambling for space in the space, and the pace at which Africa is crawling scientifically and technologically, it may take another two centuries, that is, perhaps in the 23^rd century before Africa can book a place in the space.

Fortunately for Africa, however, even though the Continent itself seems to be hopeless technologically, there are abundant individual African citizens dotted in all corners of the globe who are contributing technologically to advancement of mankind into the space. This author can cite at least one citizen of Africa – a Ghanaian to be precise by name Dr Ashitey Trebi-Ollenu who is a Member of the NASA Mars Rover Mission in America. So, therefore, there is hope for Africa scientifically and technologically.

In 2003, Ghana Government completed the formulation of a comprehensive ICT Policy for the nation. It is known as Ghana Information and Communication Technology for Accelerated Development (ICT4AD). It was spearheaded by the Ministry of Communications. It may, however, be of historical interest to state in passing that the work on the ICT Policy for Ghana actually started in October 1998 by the then NDC Government. A National Communications Policy Conference dubbed, COMPOL ‘98 involving all stakeholders in the ICT sector was held at the Accra International Conference Centre in Accra. The policy document was finalised in October 2000 at Akosombe for the approval of Cabinet. However, due to bureaucracy the then Cabinet could not pass the Communications Bill before elections 2000.

Then in September 2001, the NPP Government also organised another National Communications Policy Conference, held at GIMPA to review and update the Communication Policy Document formulated by the previous Government. The result is what is today referred to as GHANA ICT POLICY FOR ACCELERATED DEVELOPMENT. It is commendable to observe that when one Government initiates a project or programme which is in the national interest, another Government will take it up, review it, update and improve upon it instead of throwing it out altogether. And it is recalled that it was on that fateful Tuesday of September 11, 2001 when the communication conference was opened at GIMPA that the tragic news of terrorist bombing of the World Trade Centre flashed across the globe.

Within the frame work of ICT4AD, Ghana Government has embarked upon several projects including E-Ghana Project to transform Ghana into an information enabled society for knowledge based economic development. But the focus of this piece is on the Community Information Centres (CICs) project which is not only human-centered but underprivileged rural dweller-centered as well.

As a matter of fact, the CICs project also falls within the framework of World Summit on Information Society (WSIS), where all nations are enjoined to attain certain targets, including the provision of ICT access and skills to the underprivileged and rural dwellers globally. And one concrete strategy Ghana Government adopted to attain this target was to establish Community Information Centres in all the 230 constituencies throughout the country. Beyond WSIS’s broad objective for all nations, Ghana Government set its own clear cut and specific objectives to use the CICs project to bridge the digital divide between urban and rural dwellers in the country.

Government aims at demystifying that xenophobic aura surrounding Computers by taking ICT to the doorsteps of deprived and neglected brothers and sisters in remote rural areas through the Community Information Centres in about 170 districts in Ghana. The CICs are to serve as training centres where acquisition of ICT skills and knowledge are provided for underprivileged people. The CICs are to bring government services online closer to the people at the grassroots. Rural school pupils and students can access online library facilities from top educational institutions in any part of world. In fact the CICs are to serve as a hub in the provision of Wide Area Network for various district offices of the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies as well as private business entities, NGOs and Community Based Organisations, Women Groups operating in rural zones of the country. Government is financing the CICs project through HIPC funds with support of the Country office of the UNDP in Accra.

Ghana Investment Fund for Telecommunications (GIFTEL) under the supervision of the Ministry of Communications is facilitating the provision of connectivity and infrastructure to the CICs that have been constructed at underserved/un-served and remote areas. The Project is being implemented jointly with the Ministry of Information and National Orientation (MINO) in terms of content development of the CICs nation wide with technical and administrative support from UNDP with particular reference to ICT capacity building for Information Officers throughout the country. For instance, between May 2007 and April 2008, MINO was able to provide basic ICT capacity building to over 100 of its District Information Officers, Public Relations Officers and Journalists. Some of the areas covered through workshops and seminars include Computer Literacy, Online-Journalism, Content Development and Information Technology Management, thanks to UNDP.

As of December 2007, GIFTEL was also able to provide training for over 300 persons from decentralised organisations in twenty-two beneficiary districts in the country. These are the people trained specifically to manage the CICs. Records also show that Wide Area Network had been completed to extend internet connectivity to tweny-six (26) CICs. Further, thirty-seven (37) CICs are currently said to be operational with full compliment of computers, Local Area Network and Wide Area Network. According to Mr. Samuel Mensah, Director of Administration at GIFTEL, a total of one hundred and ten (110) computers had been deployed at twenty-two (22) new CICs in some selected districts in the country.

It is important to clarity the point that more CICs are reported to be at various stages of development which an ICT technical person will be in a better position to explain or comment upon. But it is gratifying to note that slowly but steadily, Ghana’s Community Information Centres project is on course. And all things being equal, as this author was assured, H.E. President J.A. Kufuor will officially commission some selected CICs nation wide before the end of the year 2008.