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Fred Swaniker on Leadership andEducation [INTERVIEW]APRIL 12, 2012 BYAFRICANYOUTHJOURNALSLEAVE A COMMENT
Fanele Chester, Swaziland
Fred Swaniker, Co-Founder and CEO of the African Leadership Academy and African Leadership Network
PHOTO: STANFORD.EDU
Successful entrepreneurship comprises of three key elements: great people, a great idea
and capital. In Africa, there are plenty of ideas and opportunities, ones too that would have
very little or no competition in the market place. The capital needed to transform theseideas into successful enterprises is there. What we do not have is people.
[African Leadership Academy]
1. Based on its success and recognition since opening its doors four years ago, is the African
Leadership Academy (ALA) considering starting charter schools around the continent? Is
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ALA considering mentoring sister schools, or sharing some of the lessons and strategies that
have worked so well, in order to broaden its reach to more African students around the
continent?
We get this question a lot, however our focus is actually not to expand. So much work still
needs to be done, and a good leader is one that focuses on one thing and doing it very well.The African Leadership Academy is still not sustainable, for example 85% of our students
are on scholarship. Therefore we need to work on perfecting our model.
However, one way we could expand is opening regional campus, for example a campus in
West Africa, and East Africa. These would be ideally started by graduates of the academy,
since they would have an understanding of how we do things.
From a short-term perspective, one thing we could do is train teachers from other schools
based on our model. In addition, we could share our curriculum. Soon, we are planning to
launch our own curriculum called the African Baccalaureate (AB). This is a curriculum for
Africans, by Africans, with a strong focus on leadership and entrepreneurship.
Finally, its important to note that what makes the African Leadership Academy successful is
not our facilities, but our philosophy and methodology. Opening a new campus with the same
facilities is expensive, and requires at least $30 $50 million upfront. On the other hand,
philosophy is free.
2. Private schools for the Poor is the title of an article that appeared in the Stanford Social
Innovation Review in January. It talks about the success of affordable private education in
developing countries around the world. Having been involved in education since your
teenage days, especially as a school principal for a year before going to college, and now
with the successful African Leadership Academy, what are your observations or thoughts on
the increase in affordable private schools? Do you think we are ready to let the private sector
take care of our schools, or should it be more of a private-public-partnership?
First, the public school model is doing well and successful in some African countries. For
example, some of our strongest students come from Kenya and Zimbabwe, where public
schools are good schools. Its not an either or approach, that is, public or private, that is mostimportant. Where the public school system is successful, it should be further strengthened
and we should learn from them. Where it isnt, the private sector can then leverage private
education. In addition, a partnership between the two would be great since the private sector
may offer new ideas and innovation that the public may lack.
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3. Khanyi Dhlomo, founder Ndalo Media, publisher of the successful Destiny and Destiny
Magazine, commented that over the past four years, herself and her team realised that they
had to stop seeing ourselves as a media company, but rather as a producer of quality
business and lifestyle content which we can deliver in various forms across a number of
platforms and industries. Over the past four years, has ALAs core competency evolved?How has your vision behind the academy changed from when you co-founded it to today?
At first, we started as a high school, but we have realized that we are not educating students
but leaders that will transform Africa. As a result, we now see our self as an African
leadership institution. Further, its important to note that one cannot become a leader over
two years; its a life-long development process. This is why we work with teenagers during
the two-years in ALA, with their college applications, as well as fostering a network that they
can use in college and beyond. We are fostering a life-long network of leaders.
[African Leadership Network]
4. Lets talk about the African Leadership Network (ALN), and Africas new generation of
leaders. Who are Africas new generation of leaders? What are the challenges they are
tackling, and the opportunities they are pursuing? What is the value of a network such as
ALN, especially in Africa?
Each generation of African leaders has their own legacy. The first generations legacy is
independence, and is comprised of the likes of Kwame Nkrumah and Patrice Lumumba. The
second is coups, warfare, corruption, as evident in countries like Nigeria and Zaire. The third,
from ten to fifteen years ago, left a legacy of peace and stability, where war is an exception
and not the norm. This legacy can be seen clearly in Liberia. The fourth generations legacy
is that of economic independence (compared to political independence), a crucial legacy that
we needed to create our own wealth, so we were able to provide basic needs such as
education and food.
The new generation of African leaders legacy is building prosperity for the African continent.
Its about bringing wealth into the continent. This generation is below 45 years of age, a
dynamic and entrepreneurial group of people that have the energy to bring prosperity on acontinental scale. The African Leadership Network is essentially a pan-African network of
these leaders, who are working together as a continent and not as individual African
countries. Its a network of pan-African relationships that works to foster an integrated African
economy, for example where a finance Minister in Uganda can work with a private company
in Nigeria on a power plant that serves a multitude of countries.
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5. The Tony Elumelu Foundation, which celebrated their first year anniversary in December,
has a particularly innovative philanthropy in its premise to help organic African companies
grow from a national to an international level. Its a scale of entrepreneurship that has not
fully caught on in the African continent, except for a few outliers such as Strive Masiyiwa and
Aliko Dangote. It is reminiscent of the age of consolidators in Americas entrepreneurshiphistory, which produced entrepreneurs such as Henry Ford. Speaking from the context of
ALN, what are your thoughts on entrepreneurship in Africa? How can we shift from the
under-capitalized model of entrepreneurship we see on the streets of every city, big and
small, to pan-African enterprises of scale?
Well, the first point is a need to deepen financial markets in Africa, and to provide the needed
finance to scale businesses.
The second and most important point is concerned with the caliber of entrepreneurs in
Africa. Traditionally, African entrepreneurs are uneducated, which is related to the problem of
scalability. Well educated Africans normally seek employment and work for someone else.
Successful entrepreneurship comprises of three key elements: great people, a great idea
and capital. In Africa, there are plenty of ideas and opportunities, ones too that would have
very little or no competition in the market place. The capital needed to transform these ideas
into successful enterprises is there. What we do not have is people.
[Personal]
5. Who is your role model?
Thats a surprisingly difficult question! I draw inspiration from a number of people, for
example Steve Jobs for innovation, Nelson Mandela for sacrifice, Kwame Nkrumah for
vision. I do not believe that there is one leader that has all the characteristics of a perfect role
model. What I do is to take different qualities from different people, and incorporate these
into my life.
Thank you.
About
Fred Swaniker is 35 years old and co-founder of the African Leadership Academy, and
the African Leadership Network. Named one of the World Economic Forums Young
Global Leaders in 2011, he is a McKinsey, Stanford Graduate Business School and
Macalester College alumni, and one of the most dynamic new leaders in Africa.
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Fanele Chester is a Swaziland citizen and a University of Chicago Student. An art lover and
and entrepreneur, she has done an amazing job promoting African art and model African
leaders with her popular
blogs: http://fanelelove.blogspot.com/ andhttp://interviewafrica.tumblr.com/.