How to Become a Leader in Africa

How to Become a Leader in Africa
Podcast Description
Are you tired of seeing Africa’s potential squandered by ineffective leadership? Do you want to uncover the hidden dynamics of leadership in Africa and explore practical strategies for driving change? Join University of York politics lecturer and author Dr Remi Adekoya on How to Become a Leader in Africa where we delve into the logic of everyday leadership across the continent. Through conversations with Africans from all walks of life, we explore the psychology of the leader-follower relationship, perceptions of authority, power, influence, and charisma to understand why certain individuals are perceived as leaders over others in African contexts.We explore how leadership emerges and is practised not just in politics, but in business, culture as well as the spheres of ideas and morality. What does it take to be seen as a leader by Africans today? What kind of leadership is needed to unleash Africa’s potential? And how can such leadership emerge? Together, let’s unravel this puzzle and figure out how Africa can be led to the greatness and prosperity Africans so strongly desire.Adekoya has written for The Guardian, Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, Politico and Washington Post among others. He has provided sociopolitical commentary for BBC, CNN, Sky News, Al Jazeera and South African Broadcasting Corporation, among others. He is a former columnist for Business Day, a Nigerian daily.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast delves into themes such as leadership dynamics, power structures, psychological aspects of leader-follower relationships, and cultural influences, with episodes exploring the role of political parties as Egbe, the significance of charisma, and practical strategies for transformative leadership, as seen in discussions with guests like Prof Wale Adebanwi.

Are you tired of seeing Africa’s potential squandered by ineffective leadership? Do you want to uncover the hidden dynamics of leadership in Africa and explore practical strategies for driving change? Join University of York politics lecturer and author Dr Remi Adekoya on How to Become a Leader in Africa where we delve into the logic of everyday leadership across the continent. Through conversations with Africans from all walks of life, we explore the psychology of the leader-follower relationship, perceptions of authority, power, influence, and charisma to understand why certain individuals are perceived as leaders over others in African contexts.
We explore how leadership emerges and is practised not just in politics, but in business, culture as well as the spheres of ideas and morality. What does it take to be seen as a leader by Africans today? What kind of leadership is needed to unleash Africa’s potential? And how can such leadership emerge? Together, let’s unravel this puzzle and figure out how Africa can be led to the greatness and prosperity Africans so strongly desire.
Adekoya has written for The Guardian, Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, Politico and Washington Post among others. He has provided sociopolitical commentary for BBC, CNN, Sky News, Al Jazeera and South African Broadcasting Corporation, among others. He is a former columnist for Business Day, a Nigerian daily.

In this episode, we sit down with the renowned Professor Audrey Gadzekpo – one of Ghana’s leading voices on media, democracy, and gender – for an insightful conversation on leadership in Ghana and beyond.
We take a deep dive into the enduring legacy of Jerry John Rawlings, Ghana’s longest-serving leader who ruled the country for two decades, first as military dictator and then as a democratically-elected president: the revolutionary energy he sparked, his ability to connect with ordinary Ghanaians, the moral contradictions of his rule, and why many young Africans today seem to yearn for the radical style of leadership he embodied. Prof Gadzekpo also tells the expectations Ghanaians have of their leaders today, which African leaders they admire, and why women still struggle to make headway in the country’s politics.
From the role of social media in reshaping today’s political landscape and the dangers of nostalgia for authoritarian-style leadership to the hard truths about gender equality in African politics — this episode explores our imaginations of power and who should get to hold it.
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