Can great leaders transform Africa’s economies?

Africa’s prosperity in the 21st century will depend on great leaders.  CanDo investigated the background of those global leaders most associated with impressive GDP growth in the 20th century and found that almost all had attended an elite secondary school and then either an elite university or military college:

However Africa has few secondary schools providing the quality of education necessary for its pioneers to flourish.  “Leadership academies” for gifted teenagers, such as the African Leadership Academy (South Africa) and the African Science Academy (Ghana), are emerging to fill this gap.  However the quantity of students they can educate is insufficient for the continent’s needs.

CanDo has therefore launched Crucible, an initiative to fund and support 100 leadership academies across lower income African countries by 2045.  The first Crucible academy will launch in Lusaka in January 2025.  It is initially a highly selective “sixth form” upper secondary school teaching a proprietary A-Level STEM, unexamined liberal arts and leadership curriculum.  Alumni will also benefit from support for university admissions and long term career development in order to maximise their impact on their country’s economy.

You can read the Crucible 1-pager here and find out more about Crucible Lusaka on its website.

Crucible Advisors, Patrick Derham and Dr Dzingai Mutumbuka, address Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema and Education Minister Douglas Syakalima.