African Leadership for Knowledge Society Forum
On 30th Aug, 2017, GESCI in partnership with the African Union Commission and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Finland held the African Leadership for Knowledge Society Forum. The event, which also marked the closure of the GESCI ALICT/LATIC programme, took place in Nairobi Kenya.
In attendance were representatives from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Finland, the Embassy of Finland in Kenya, Alumni from 16 African Countries and other government stakeholders.
Speaking during the opening ceremony, GESCI CEO, Jerome Morrissey said that GESCI is committed to building a knowledge society through implementation of initiatives like the just concluded African Leadership in ICT, which was delivered in 16 African Countries.
Ramses Malaty, Deputy Head of Mission-Embassy of Finland,Kenya noted that African is changing rapidly and adopting ICTs in governance which a key driver of development.
Keynote speaker, Morne Mostert, Director-Institute of Futures Research, Stellenbosch University, South Africa reminded participants that we humans are the leaders and we should always plan for the future since Africa has social dynamics that Shape the Rule of Law.
The event was also graced by testimonials from ALICT/LATIC alumni who shared various experiences and milestones after taking the course. It was evident that most of them were promoted at work, took up projects in government and also took up various lead positions in society to spearhead knowledge growth.
Senthil Kumar,ALICT programme manager shared an overview of the programme which reached 497 mid level and senior level leaders from 16 African Countries and the African Union Commission. Through the course, a Community of Practice leadership4sd.org was launched in June 2016 bringing together all alumni and other policy and decision makers, researchers and key actors, to stimulate the collective leadership capacities.
GESCI has since refurbished the course and will soon roll out a new leadership course, the Leadership in Knowledge Society for Sustainable Development.