Why Africa needs executive search

Africa’s youthful population is energetic, vibrant and hungry for opportunity. It’s also made up of individuals who require training, mentorship and future-focused leaders to help them succeed, writes Jeremy Bossenger of BossJansen Executive Search.

With a career spanning more than 25 years, it’s important at times to take a breather, take stock and notice the progression of both the executive search niche in which we operate, and the development of my own in-house team – together with the extensive network of potential candidates whom we have amassed, and the corporate clients who look to us whenever they need a senior position filled.

Today, as we continue to spread our impetus further north and grow our clout on the African continent and beyond, new corporate clients are reaching out for the services that we are confident in offering; and African cities are growing in popularity for the desirable relocation opportunities they can offer to the board- and executive-level individuals whom we headhunt for placement in key industry roles.

Moulding Africa’s greatest asset

While first-world markets may be awash with professional senior candidates, sub-Saharan Africa boasts the world’s youngest population – with 70% of resident nationals being under the age of 30. Further, according to United Nations projections, a volume as big as 60% of Africa’s population is likely to be under the age of 25 by the year 2050.

Described as Africa’s “greatest asset” by TechAfrica News editor Joyce Onyeagoro, this excitable young workforce will also need to be harnessed, empowered and given the tools and resources needed to drive the continent’s digital and economic transformation.

How then can we, as an executive search firm, look beyond our everyday tasks to embrace the challenges that this situation presents?

Belief in the continent’s rich future

The answer is not only to place interim-management and non-executive-level individuals from our network into the roles that we are called upon to fill, but also to look beyond the qualifications that appear on their résumés; to the experience they can offer in the realm of mentoring, coaching and selfless knowledge sharing to help bring forth out of any team, a succession plan for the years that lie ahead.

The experts at the Tony Elumelo Foundation advise that just as pairing a more experienced entrepreneur with a newbie startup owner can help the latter avoid any common pitfalls and give him or her an advice-rich sounding board, so mentorship in the corporate world, too, should provide “guidance, advice and support… together with insights into the industry, market and regulatory environment” in which young employees may find themselves.

Mentorship and coaching, whether formal or informal, can also help extend any professional advice dispensed into the area of personal development – imparting communication skills, best practice when it comes to becoming a future leader, and even sparking an awareness of emotional intelligence – to allow Africa’s youthful population to weather the storms and enjoy the benefits of the changes that are coming in 4IR technologies, business models and innovations that few of us can easily fathom.

A future-focused approach

Pascal Murasira, whose work involves developing innovation hubs both within and outside Africa, suggests that ambitious youth identify their personal assets and aspirations, and seek enviable advice on ways to tackle the market realities they face so as to rise above the competition. An important part of this personal and career-orientated journey is the need to seek out digital literacy training and specialised courses focused on artificial intelligence and big data, as just two examples, whether via colleagues at work or in the evenings.

It goes without saying that executive search firms should ideally be looking out for senior candidates who mention succession plans in their interviews; and request placement at companies that are transparent about their future-forward initiatives – including a solid investment in Africa’s prolific pool of youthful human capital.

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