This paper draws on the extant literature and experiences of selected ACBF-supported
programs to interrogate approaches to enhancing institutional leadership in African
universities. The paper posits that African universities must proactively take charge of
fostering institutional leadership so as to translate leadership competence into strategic
assets. Such assets are key to bolstering intellectual capital, strategic scanning, i.e. the
capacity to recognize the behaviour of interconnected systems to make effective decisions
under varying strategic and risk scenarios, and the transformation of knowledge. To this
end, African universities need to transcend their current ‘modern’ system of education to a
post-modern perspective, which recognizes context, collaboration and knowledge as valued
skills. Enhancing institutional leadership is also crucial if Africa is to compete in today’s
rapidly globalizing world and knowledge society. More importantly, doing so has direct
impact on shaping the quality of leadership on the Continent, and consequently the
resulting policy decisions and governance. The paper concludes that while institutional,
political, demographic as well as resource challenges exist, African universities today, are
uniquely positioned as a result of uptake of knowledge management, strengthened privatepublic
partnerships and advances in ICT to enhance institutional leadership.
