Fred Swaniker: A Social Entrepreneur with A Big Vision

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Fred Swaniker is the founder of the African Leadership Association. He is a Ghanaian entrepreneur and leadership trainer. He has won international awards for his efforts towards grooming great leaders for the future of Africa.

His father was a magistrate and his mother was a teacher. He attended Macalester College in Minnesota. He got employment at McKinsey and Co. in Johannesburg after graduating college. He also attended Stanford Graduate School of Business where he bagged his MBA. He graduated in the top 10% of his class, earning him an award as Arjay Miller Scholar.
Fred is passionate about Africa. This inspired him to pursue the emergence of future leaders for Africa. He founded organizations the African Leadership Academy, the African leadership network, and the African leadership University. Collectively these institutions intend to raise 3 million leaders for Africa over a period of 50 years. Fred also serves as founder and CEO of Terra education. This is US educational company that provides leadership training to 4000 people annually.

Career

While studying at Stanford, Fred Swaniker wrote the business plan for a school that would groom future leaders in Africa. He believed that the most important factor hindering Africa’s growth was leadership. Therefore, he got to work to be a part of the solution. He utilized his Silicon Valley connections to get funding to back his idea. In 2004, immediately after graduation, he founded the Africa Leadership Academy. The Academy teaches leadership and entrepreneurial skills to students across Africa. By 2017, about 1,000 future leaders had undergone tutelage in the Academy. The school made provision for indigent students to attend the institution, provided that they would return to Africa on graduation.

Recognition

In 2010, Fred was one of 115 young leaders chosen to meet President Obama at a Forum for African leaders. He was recognized by Forbes Magazine as one of the top ten young “power men” in Africa in 2011. He was also recognized by Echoing Green as one of the social entrepreneurs emerging in the world in 2006.

First-hand experience of Africa’s challenges

Africa has a great asset in its teeming young population. That asset is also its defining challenge. 60% of Africa’s population is under 25, making it the youngest continent by population. It is projected that by 2100, Africa would account for almost half of the world’s population. Harnessing this human capital is a tall order and it is the responsibility to which Swaniker has devoted his life’s work.

Fred Swaniker: Passion for African Leadership

Growing up in different parts of Africa, got Fred Swaniker to fall in love with the African people. It made him appreciate the beauty and strength of Africa’s diversity. It also helped form his ideology and passion. At the age of 4, Fred experienced a Coup in his native Ghana which made his family flee to the Gambia. While in the Gambia there was also a coup. At a point, he and his family had to sleep under their bed for weeks hiding from bullets. At 8 years, his family moved to Botswana. Hear things were different. Things were in order there was stability and development. For instance, in Botswana, there were fiber optic telephone cables. He witnessed on television how Nelson Mandela refused to give up the apartheid struggle in exchange for his freedom when offered the chance. Mandela was to eventually get his desire and apartheid was abolished.

The Role of Stable Institutions

Fred Swaniker witnessed 30 years of development go down the drain in Zimbabwe as a result of War. He attended college in Zimbabwe and traveled overseas for further studies. On his return to Zimbabwe after completing his studies, Zimbabwe had been destroyed. This was a practical demonstration that things could go bad so fast. It takes years to build but seconds to destroy. One leader, Robert Mugabe was responsible for the sudden destruction of Zimbabwe.

Fred has a burden in his heart for African development. He believes that everything rises and falls on leadership. He has witnessed in advanced countries how strong institutions prevent one leader from causing severe damage. This was possible because there were checks and balances, therefore no leader could carry out hasty decisions. In Africa, such strong institutions are lacking. Leaders had a great influence on decision-making. A single individual can make far-reaching decisions that have long-term implications on the populace.

According to Swaniker, stability is the key to African development. In the year 2050, Africa’s share of the global population is projected to grow to 26%. If jobs are not created now and institutions are not built, there would be a major crisis. The whole world would suffer the consequences if the leadership problem in Africa is not addressed.