SA's 'new imperialism'
04/02/2007 18:53
By: Malcolm Ray

Johannesburg - In a global knowledge economy where competitiveness is a premium, talent is without doubt the most sought after commodity.

The global hunt for talent has become a war to determine the future.

South Africa, it seems, is the crucible for developing the generation of business leaders who will shape the country's and continent's economy in the decades ahead.

Where previous studies have sought to explain the root causes of the human capital challenge, Business in Africa has attempted to find out what business leaders on the ground are doing to address the talent issue.

The results paint a gloomy picture. South Africa is bleeding mainly executive talent at an astonishing rate to non-African countries in a global war of wits that has exposed the country to predatory forces hungry for skills they're not harvesting at an adequate rate.

And that applies as much to the rest of the continent.

A hunting ground for multinationals

It's a global hunting ground for ravenous multinationals in what can best be described as the "new imperialism".

South Africa alone has lost more than a million skilled professionals to the UK, Australia, Europe and the US in the past decade, and continues to do so every day.

It's a cardinal lesson to African countries which have been losing their greatest minds to the West at a time when relative political stability and opportunities for growth in the continent depends more than ever before on human capital to get results.

The challenge to the continent is to groom a generation of leaders with a global skill and mind set capable of releasing the rich pickings in the continent, for the continent.

According to our estimates, few expatriates succeed in their mission on the continent. Conversely, African companies that fail to adapt by evolving a talent strategy to groom and retain local skills are at a competitive disadvantage in the global economy.

Battle not over

The battle is not lost. Africa has some of the brightest minds in corporate boardrooms, many of them showcased in this edition.

These are men and women commanding multi-million dollar budgets, leading a continental revival.

In a sense, they must determine the competencies and models that drive results in Africa.

They must determine the course on which industry leaders have embarked and toward which other companies operating in Africa are likely to look as they attempt to build successful enterprises of their own.

Information supplied by www.fin24.co.za