The furore over recent weeks about the building of a $40 million leadership academy in South Africa for disadvantaged girls by US talk show host and philanthropist, Oprah Winfrey, has been an interesting lesson in the ‘what I would do with $40 million dollars’ exercise.

Oprah has been castigated by some for creating an elitist institution where girls will enjoy the privileges of a 2-bedroom suite and bed sheets of the finest cotton.  Others argue that the money would have been better spent in educating many more girls in surroundings of a lesser standard.  While it begs the question of why those who were not involved in the rigours of producing a demanding daily television talk show, managing a globally circulated magazine and developing national literacy and charitable programmes, feel entitled to determine the distribution of Oprah’s profits; the bigger issue seems to have been overlooked by the proponents of the ‘less is more’ school of thought.

Oprah has not set out to take over the obligations of a national government to provide affordable and accessible education to its citizens.  She has made a gesture – if $40 million can be rightly described as a gesture – of recognition that absorbing the best quality of education within the best surroundings will produce a cadre of highly educated, self-confident young women who can rightfully aspire to leadership in whichever field of endeavour they choose.

Inspired by a great leader – Nelson Mandela – Oprah’s gift of a world-class training institution will give its pupils the confidence to envision and achieve a world-class future for themselves and, thus, be in a position to give back to their people, their country and their continent. 

In this Issue

In this month’s ReConnect Africa, we talk to Diageo Africa’s John Patterson about the remarkable transition of its management team from one dominated by Western expatriates to a truly multinational African team.  We highlight the success of Forever Living Products in creating opportunities for wealth in Africa.  Journalism is a career that many aspire to and former BBC journalist Tim Fenton shares some tips on getting into the sector while magazine editor Sherry Dixon gives an insight into what she has learned in her media career.

As Ghana prepares for its 50th anniversary celebrations in March, we profile the upcoming Career Destinations job fair taking place this month in Accra.  The war for talent has seen the UK Government adopt a new approach to its immigration policies in a bid to attract highly-skilled migrants, while the efforts of Africans living in the UK and Europe to support development in Africa are showcased in the valuable work being undertaken by Africa Foundation Stone in Cameroon.

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