Sam Jonah to Ashesi graduates: Africa lacks ethical leadership, change narrative

Ghanaian business mogul and current chancellor of the University of Cape Coast (UCC), Sir Sam Jonah, says as someone who has travelled extensively and done business on the African continent, he has come to the conclusion that the continent’s overarching challenge is the lack of ethical leadership across all levels of society.

This narrative according to the executive chairman of Jonah Capital, can be reversed by products of Ashesi university since the unique focus of the school on ethical leadership, offers her students, a great opportunity to cause significant transformation in the development of Ghana and of Africa at large.

Sir Sam Jonah, KBE, OSG, made the observation when he delivered the Guest Speaker’s address for Ashesi’s Class of 2022, at their Commencement Ceremony, today, 4 June 2022, at the university’s campus in Berekuso, Eastern Region.

“As someone who has travelled widely and done business across several African countries, I see first- hand the gaps in governance and the difficult issues of development directly. Undoubtedly, the post- independence aspirations for development in most African countries have not been realised”.

“Poverty, infrastructural deficit, substandard education, and unemployment, are creating an environment which is engendering a sense of hopelessness and despair amongst the general populace and especially amongst the youth” Sir Sam Jonah said.

“It is generally agreed that in a large measure, the problem has to do with a lack of ethical leadership at all levels of society manifesting in blatant corruption in many of our institutions” Sam Jonah added.

Emphasizing his point on the lack of ethical leadership in Africa, the member of the Global Advisory Council of the Bank of America, noted: “a judiciary which is perceived not to render justice”, “parliaments which for whatever reason are unable to keep the executive in check;

“The media which must keep governments in check but cannot do so because they are compromised” and Constitutional changes made by some leaders on the continent to suit their whims and caprices” as evidence to back his assertion that the continent is in short supply of ethical leaders.

Stream of ethics

Mr Jonah pointed out in his address that Ashesi graduates have a unique training that prepares that to live a life guided by ethics and it is time for them to venture into public service other than the private sector and industry where they are more known.

“If indeed the African problem is a direct consequence of lack of ethical leadership, then is it a shame that Ashesi’s graduates in whom the principles of ethics have been instilled, are not venturing into the one area where they can have the most impact? Ashesi graduates should not only be in industry and the private sector” Sir Sam Jonah said.

“You are the generation of ethical leaders Africa needs to inspire the reconstruction of its civil services. We need your ethical leadership in public corporations”.

“We need your ethical leadership across Africa’s parliaments. We need your ethical leadership in Africa’s courts. We need your ethical leadership as Ministers of State; and we sure need your ethical leadership across Africa’s presidential palaces” Sir Sam Jonah, the board member of the Otumfuo Osei Tutu II Foundation added.

“This is my challenge to each of you as you graduate today. Let the mighty stream of ethics overflow from your innermost being and flood Africa’s dysfunctional public sector thereby cleansing it of the plaque of mediocrity that has held the continent down for so long” Sam Jonah further stated in his address to the 2022 Ashesi graduating class.

Uniqueness of women

In his caution to the 2022 graduating class about the world out there, he told them to watch out for setbacks because “it is a very cynical world out there” and that world will sometimes make them doubt their strengths and capabilities.

The exacting challenges of the world out there according to Sir Sam Jonah, “will confront them all but more especially, the ladies”.

“Trust me, the most potent weapons against prejudice are knowledge and competence. These harsh realities will be faced by all of you, but even to a greater extent by the ladies amongst you”.

“Unfortunately, the world out there has not fully appreciated the tremendous role our women play in society and therefore the women among you might face even more challenges” Mr Jonah said.

“Throughout the history of mankind, when it has mattered the most, women have offered a reliable pair of steady hands to steer the affairs of nations from critical downturns to turnaround success stories”.

“Notable leaders in the last sixty years include Golda Meir of Israel; Winnie Mandela; Indira Ghandi of India; Margaret Thatcher of the United Kingdom; and Angela Merkel of Germany, to name but a few”.

“Coming closer home, in this country [Ghana], I have had the pleasure of working or striking close acquaintances with extraordinarily talented women; some of whom are now heading a select number of the biggest companies and public institutions in Ghana.

“These include Mansa Nettey of Standard Chartered Bank, Abena Osei-Poku of ABSA Ghana, Afua Kyei, the young CFO of Bank of England, Beatrice Agyemang of Media General, Mimi Darko of Food and Drugs Authority, Patricia Obo-Nai of Vodafone Ghana, Patience Akyianu of Hollard Insurance, Lucy Quist formerly of Airtel Ghana and now Managing Director of Morgan Stanley in London, which is one of the biggest investment banks in the world” he added.

“And there is also my own wife who is here with me today, a uniquely talented and inspiring woman who conceived and built Africa’s first 5- star Marriott Hotel from scratch; not forgetting my daughter Tamara Jonah who after school chose the entrepreneurial route and set up what has become arguably Ghana’s biggest events management company”.

“These are just a few of the women who have shown that prejudice cannot stop a person who is determined to succeed; and these are women who against all odds, have broken the glass ceiling for your generation to emulate and perhaps even surpass” he further said.

Performance driven

Telling his person life story as a young employee of a predominantly white managed company (Ashanti Goldfields Limited) when he joined same in 1973, Sam Jonah, said he was “fortunate to have an inspiring father who would often remind” him that, “working for a white man in a white man’s company, if you want to make progress, when your colleagues are sleeping you should be running”.

This words from his father he said, became his “personal mantra” and he “made a personal decision to challenge their prejudices” through his performance.

“I would often stay at work much later than all my colleagues in management, to inspect work being done underground”.

“In a nutshell, I decided very early in my career to let my performance speak for itself and whatever the monthly target ore production was, my team would produce more” Mr Jonah said.

“This created a problem for management who could not ignore our performance when the time came for promotion”.

“Similarly, just as my father inspired me to rise to challenges that I faced in my time as a fresh graduate, I would also like to encourage and urge you to have mastery of your craft, for that is the best assurance for progress in any environment, which even the biggest of all biases that you are set to encounter in your professional lives cannot defeat”.

“Do not ever settle for the mediocre; and do not entertain complacency in your life” he added.

Wilberforce Asare 

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