Current leadership challenges in Africa

Abstract

For decades the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been through coups d’état, civil wars, rebellions, political turmoil and instability, and it also faced aggression from its neighbouring countries in recent years. Although the DRC is a vast country which is endowed with various mineral and natural resources, the indicators of the UNDP (2011) have ranked the country last on the list. One would not understand how a country that is potentially the richest on the continent can rank among the poorest countries on the world. This article examines leadership challenges and governance imperatives in the DRC focusing on the current leadership issues. This is done in order to clarify the extent to which leadership challenges impact on governance and hamper development. This analysis is essential as it will pave a way for one to examine the governance imperatives and come up with suggestions that might assist in addressing the challenges the DRC is faced with. The article relies on the available literature review and the author proceeds to the analysis of the trends and developments taking place in the continent and particularly in DRC in order to demonstrate how the past has affected the current situation in the DRC. In its conclusion, the article considers that a transformational and authentic leadership style is essential in creating an environment that promotes the attainment of governance requirements for the development of developing countries, in general, and the DRC, in particular.