An Assessment of Public Administration Training and Development in Africa: Lessons Learned and the Way Forward

Contents Introduction ......................................................................................................210 Assessing Perspectives of Training and Development in Africa ........................... 211 Training and Development for Africa’s Transnational Agenda ............................214 Assessing the Substance of Training and Development ......................................216 Curriculum of Management Development Institutions .....................................218 Critique of Management Training and Development ....................................... 220 Lessons Learned and the Way Forward ..............................................................224 Endnotes .......................................................................................................... 228 References ........................................................................................................ 228

Introduction The search for public service competencies in the context of development has been an enduring concern since Africa emerged from the throes of colonialism in the late 1950s and early 1960s. As African nations make a difficult transition from a pre­ dominantly narrow bureaucratic mindset toward a more broad­based governance approach to development management, an important consideration is the quality of training and development provided to public managers. The scholarship emanating from within and outside of the continent has laid a solid foundation for much of the attention that professional training and development receive in contemporary society, including the chapters contained in this edited volume. It has no doubt expanded and enriched our knowledge, understanding, and analysis of training and development beyond the restrictive confines of command, control, and compli­ ance approaches. As the chapters indicate, there is a steady shift toward integrating experience­based, indigenous knowledge and nontraditional competence, empha­ sizing transnational and cross­cultural communication, collaboration, cooperation, care, and commitment, to mention but a few.