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Question: Discuss about the Leadership in Africa. Answer: Background The current assignment focuses on the challenges of leadership faced in the African sub-continent. The lack of effective leadership in Africa leads to a situation of political unrest. The region has far too many tropical gangsters who do not take into consideration sound policy advice (Johnson, 2015). The leadership crisis could be explained on the basis of the democratic transitions in Africa. The political conflicts could also be attributed to the presence of a number of multiethnic societies of Africa. As commented by Fourie, van der Merwe Van Der Merwe (2017), constant conflicts within the ethical values of the multiethnic societies leads to the situation of political unrest in Africa. The elections in Africa are subjected to international accountability (Obadare Adebanwi, 2016). The economic susceptibility of the continent subjects it to greater amount of international assistance. As argue by Johnson (2015), the misbalance in political powers makes the situation even worse. Af rica inspite of its diverse resources kept on crumpling under the pressure of leaderless adversities. The African leaders have caused the continent to lose $ 1.4 trillion from 1980 to 2010 (Fourie et al., 2017). The years added together, the economic losses are huge. The tyrannical leadership of Africa supports the emergence of social misfits which causes oppression of the freedom of the inhabitants of the continent. Challenges of leadership in Africa There are a number of leadership challenges which are eminent in the African sub-continent, which have been discussed in more details in the following sections. In this respect, the over politization of the Nigerian state could be explained on the basis of uncontrolled struggle for power, patronage and influence. There was the uprise of a local political group without commitment to social well being. The dearths of policies that have nationalistic importance have led to the political unrest within the country (Obadare Adebanwi, 2016). Some of the facts which have surfaced over here are the discrepancy in leadership style which has affected the working class of Africa greatly. It has been seen that the Nigerian management follows an autocratic leadership style where a master slave relation is given importance instead of utmost inclusion of the employees in a business organization context. Another issue which have been highlighted over here is unnecessary privatization of the state ma tters by the leaders. Some of the prime objectives of privatisation as highlighted by the state leaders are healthcare, outsourcing of clientele base within business organizations. As mentioned by Iwowo (2015), such a move led to the disengagement of the populace from the public realm. There are a number of challenges to governance in Africa such as lack of power of the civil society to demand accountability from public sector leadership (Obadare Adebanwi, 2016). Limited freedom of the media limits the voices and opinions possessed by the people of the African sub-continent. As commented by Nkomo (2015), the devolution of power to sub-national government has been viewed as a step towards re-establishment of the African state. Additionally, the lack of power possessed by local administrators, societal fragmentation is some of the factors affecting the power and autonomy of the people within the African sub-continent. There are a number of shortcomings with regards to the electoral system such as less independence of the electoral commission and suppression of the process of registration for electoral candidates. As commented by Adebanwi Obadare (2016), the culture of political parties needs to be revaluated using internal values. The first generation of African leaders were victims of British colonization. As commented by Creswell et al. (2014), the African leaders were put under immense pressure as to perform. It could be attributed to the mentality which has affected them over the course of colonization. Hence, a dominant leadership approach was followed over here which provided little autonomy to the citizens. Some of the steps which could be taken to address the issues of ineffective leadership in Africa are: Development of a strong constitution that cannot be manipulated by strong political elites by bringing forth changes in policies and mandate. Institutional arrangements for providing the inhabitants of the African continent with improved life coverage by setting up public and national forums. Additionally strengthening economic cooperation with other SAARC nations can also help in addressing some of the current issues emerged due to ineffective leadership such as poverty and poor health. In my opinion, revisiting the national policies or constitutional guidelines can help in the establishment of a greater amount of social inclusion and social equalities. Differences between traditional and modern leadership The leadership style followed in Nigeria is patriarchal where the citizens are seen as social subjects, who would strictly operate by the fixed rules and norms. In this respect, the democratic multiparties have led to a polyarchial form of government over the monarchical type (George et al., 2016). The Nigerian government followed a traditional approach to leadership and management. Additionally, the leadership approach used over here was not people centred. On the other hand adopting a transformational leadership approach could help in bringing about social reforms within the African population (George et al., 2016). Two major issues that have affected both national and international attention with respect to post-independence sub-Saharan African states are nationalist struggles that hinder the independence of the communities as a whole (Fourie et al., 2017). The main agenda of the nationalist ruler was to overthrow an exploitive ruler. Hence, alien rule was to be replaced by self g overnment and independence. In order to bring changes within the traditional leadership style followed by Africa a variety of political programmes were required to be established. Hence, it required mass support from the citizens for the implementation of the policies. However, the lack of mutual agreement within the government and the public can lead to difficulties in the implementation of the policies (Creswell et al., 2014). Therefore, the African government can bring about a number of reforms in this regard by practising a people centred approach. This could be brought about by providing the people sufficient power of expression. In this respect, the power of the press and the media could be increased. In this respect, good governance could be practised by supporting an affective decision making by ideological accountability namely through participation, decency and fairness. Conclusion The current assignment focuses on the concept of leadership challenges in Africa. The long term effect of colonization is evident within the African population as many leaders still possess the mentality that they could practise a master slave relationship with the citizens. The leaders hardly followed the sound social policies and reforms which could give equal amount of freedom to the citizens. Additionally, unequal power distribution within the states also resulted in social disharmony. Additionally, the presence of a polyarchial government helped little for the welfare and the promotion of the basic needs of the people. Therefore, development of a centralised power could also result in the equal promotion of the rights of the people. References Adebanwi, W., Obadare, E. (2016). Governance and the Unending Search for Leadership in African Politics. InGovernance and the Crisis of Rule in Contemporary Africa(pp. 1-19). Palgrave Macmillan, New York. Creswell, J., Sahu, S., Sachdeva, K. S., Ditiu, L., Barreira, D., Mariandyshev, A., ... Pillay, Y. (2014). Tuberculosis in BRICS: challenges and opportunities for leadership within the post-2015 agenda.Bulletin of the World Health Organization,92(6), 459-460. Fourie, W., van der Merwe, S. C., Van Der Merwe, B. (2017). Sixty years of research on leadership in Africa: A review of the literature.Leadership,13(2), 222-251. George, G., Corbishley, C., Khayesi, J. N., Haas, M. R., Tihanyi, L. (2016). Bringing Africa in: Promising directions for management research.Academy of Management Journal,59(2), 377-393. Iwowo, V. (2015). Leadership in Africa: rethinking development.Personnel Review,44(3), 408-429. Johnson, C. E. (2017).Meeting the ethical challenges of leadership: Casting light or shadow. London: Sage Publications, pp. 125-215. Nkomo, S. M. (2015). Challenges for management and business education in a Developmental state: The case of South Africa.Academy of Management Learning Education,14(2), 242-258. Obadare, E., Adebanwi, W. (Eds.). (2016).Governance and the Crisis of Rule in Contemporary Africa: Leadership in Transformation. Berlin: .Springer, pp. 105-225.