REFRAMING LEADERSHIP THROUGH SELF-AWARENESS AND INSTITUTIONAL PURPOSE IN AFRICAN UNIVERSITIES
Key Insights from the GLeMA Leadership Capacity Development Workshop for University Managers
RUFORUM 2025 AGM – Gaborone, Botswana: The two-day Leadership Capacity Development Workshop for Principals, Deans, programme coordinators and other university leaders organized by RUFORUM under the Transforming African Agricultural Universities to Meaningfully Contribute to Africa’s Growth and Development (TAGDev 2.0) programme in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, surfaced a set of critical emerging issues shaping the future of leadership in African higher education. As the pilot phase of the RUFORUM Governance, Leadership and Management Academy (GLeMA) unfolds, the workshop deliberated on the growing urgency for leadership models that can respond to rapid institutional change, shifting national development priorities, and the complex realities facing universities across the continent and the overall education sector as we know it.
Participants were orientated on the strategic intent of transforming higher agricultural education and GLeMA, gaining clarity on the reform agenda and the four interconnected pillars underpinning GLeMA’s leadership pipeline: executive governance, strategic management, academic leadership, and student development. These pillars are not mere reiterations but underscore a glaring recognition that African universities require leadership approaches that are adaptive, accountable, and deeply aligned with community and national development systems and interests.
University leaders from across Africa in attendance
Emerging from the workshop was the need to strengthen leaders’ self-awareness and mindset orientation. Through assessments, reflection exercises, and facilitated sessions, participants confronted personal leadership assumptions, emotional triggers, and limiting beliefs. The emphasis on growth mindset supported by the MPATAPO Learning Community signaled a shift from technical leadership capacity to psychological readiness for transformation, encouraging leaders to embrace curiosity, vulnerability, and emotional intelligence as essential tools for institutional renewal.
Discussions with experienced university leaders further revealed the growing importance of coherent institutional purpose, meaningful partnerships, and community-driven leadership. These exchanges reinforced the idea that leadership transformation cannot be episodic, but must be embedded in institutional culture, supported by systems that reward innovation, accountability, and collaboration.
“Transformation begins with the leader, not the institution. transformation cannot occur without leaders who possess clarity of purpose, self-awareness, and a willingness to challenge entrenched practices.” – Dr. Florence Nakayiwa, deputy Executive Secretary at RUFORUM
Dr. Abigael N. Otinga, Senior Program Officer-Systems Strengthening and Operations at RUFORUM
Day two of the workshop expanded the focus to systems thinking, positioning it as a critical competence for navigating the complexities of university ecosystems. Participants engaged deeply with ideas such as time delays in institutional change, assumption testing, and cross-system connectivity. As universities face heightened expectations to contribute to national development, leaders were reminded that strategic progress depends not only on goals but on building robust systems capable of sustaining change.
Universities were tasked with developing leadership roadmaps aligned with transformational change, signaling a progressive shift toward structured, measurable institutional steps. Discussions during the Fireside Chat illustrated how national policies, faculty engagement, and multi-stakeholder partnerships play a pivotal role in socializing transformative agendas. Leaders equally emphasized the need for universities to internalize reforms, leverage internal assets, and reduce over-reliance on external funding.
RUFORUM’s leadership roadmap presented by Prof. Anthony Egeru – Manager for Skilling, Engagement for Community Development at RUFORUM, outlined a clear pathway for accountability and sustained capacity development, including communities of practice, mentorship, strategy development phases, and performance-based participation in key RUFORUM convenings, reinforcing that intentionality in leadership development as a non-negotiable element for institutional progress. The prioritization of measurable leadership outcomes and intentional investment in institutional strengthening reflects an emerging trend among development partners.
Prof. Anthony Egeru – Manager for Skilling, Engagement for Community Development at RUFORUM
Closing reflections placed a call for leaders to function as “academic investors” highlighting an emerging policy priority for enhancing the entrepreneurial and developmental orientation of African universities.
Across the two days, participants were presented with new perspectives to systems-based leadership. The workshop’s outcomes provide several key issues of interest for institutional leaders, policymakers and development partners. Specifically, the evolution of leadership identity, the institutionalization of transformation processes, the strengthening of national-university linkages, and the need for long-term investments in sustainable leadership pipelines.
Staff from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana
