Leadership takes center stage at CAFRAD forum in Rabat
African public leadership must remain rooted in local realities while staying open to the world, Morocco’s Minister Delegate for Digital Transition and Administrative Reform, Amal El Fallah Seghrouchni, said Tuesday at the opening of the 17th Ministerial Forum of the African Training and Research Centre in Administration for Development (CAFRAD) in Rabat.
Speaking at the forum, Seghrouchni highlighted Africa’s human capital, growing innovation ecosystems and ability to develop solutions adapted to the continent’s realities. She called for the promotion of a public leadership model based on ethics, skills and measurable impact.
According to the minister, effective public leadership should not replicate imported models or rely on practices that no longer meet current challenges. Instead, it should help African administrations foster a culture of performance, cooperation and quality public service delivery.
She said the true measure of public leadership lies in its ability to transform vision into results, crises into learning opportunities, diverse perspectives into collective intelligence and national ambitions into shared progress. She also stressed that the future of public administrations will depend on their capacity to learn faster than crises evolve, coordinate actions effectively and remain committed to the public interest.
Seghrouchni recalled that Morocco, under the leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, has pursued structural and institutional reforms aimed at strengthening the rule of law, improving governance and placing public administration at the service of development and citizen dignity. She described administrative reform as a key pillar of development.
Morocco’s role in African cooperation
CAFRAD Director General Coffi Dieudonné Assouvi praised Morocco’s efforts to support major global transitions and contribute to their implementation across Africa.
He said the vision of HM King Mohammed VI regarding South South cooperation serves as an inspiration for pan African institutions and provides fresh momentum to CAFRAD’s mission of strengthening governance and public administration across the continent.
Assouvi also emphasized the importance of the forum’s 17th edition, held under the theme of leadership as a catalyst for steering public action in a volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous, paradoxical and dangerous environment. He described the gathering as a platform dedicated to capacity building and strengthening leadership as a driver of public action in Africa.
Award for digital governance leadership
The opening ceremony featured the presentation of the African Leadership Excellence Award for Personality of the Year 2025 in the category of Digital Governance for Sustainable Development to Seghrouchni, who also serves as Chair of CAFRAD’s Board of Directors.
The award recognized her commitment to sustainable development, African integration and South South cooperation.
Participants at the forum are examining challenges related to emotional intelligence, organizational resilience, interinstitutional collaboration and strategic foresight through five interactive sessions. Discussions are also focusing on methodological tools that can help African senior decision makers manage public action in an era shaped by rapid technological change.
