he potential for great leadership is in every single one of us. But do we have the courage to awaken it? Sometimes the trigger is the stark realization that you have to get involved to solve a problem.” In 2018, Seynabou Ba reached that point herself.
As one of a few senior African female environmental and social experts with global experience, Seynabou had first-hand access to some of the most influential business leaders across the African continent. A few things became clear to her as she considered how to achieve a sustainability agenda for Africa. First, business leaders must increasingly appreciate that sustainability is a business imperative. More importantly, she recognized a need for an African sustainability narrative that would resonate with Africans of all soci-economic backgrounds. “In several African languages – Fulani, Wolof, Shona and others … the word for tree is the same as the word for medicine. Nature has always been a central part of African life. As such it doesn’t make sense for Africans to overlook what has healed them for centuries.”
Her passion for an African sustainability agenda prompted her to leave a leadership role at World Bank IFC to establish Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Africa. She saw the potential in having African companies embrace sustainability as a strategic priority. But another experience also ignited her drive to make a real difference. “In the early stage of starting my business, I stumbled on something that confirmed my view about how Africa will arrive at a sustainability agenda crafted by the base of the pyramid.”
In Dioubo, Khar Yallah, a small town in central Senegal, the “righteous indignation” of the community there led to a collaboration that redefined her understanding of transformational leadership. The youth brought the neighborhood together to support a simple initiative: build a community garden. Everyone in the neighborhood contributed to the project with their diverse skill sets, ideas or financial means. This inspired individual members of the neighborhood to take responsibility for the cleanliness and well-being of the entire area.
Today, they take pride in an environmentally friendly and safer neighborhood that is an example for others follow. They embraced their ability to affect change without depending on government largess. These young leaders – simple in means but highly exacting in their vision – demonstrated to Seynabou that the future for sustainability in Africa is at the grassroots.
Africa is home to more than 70% of the world’s poorest people. And 1 in 3 people are living in extreme poverty. “How can we talk about sustainability if they do not have a voice, if they are not engaged? Ordinary African farmers may never have heard the words climate change, mitigation, adaption and resilience but they experience the impact first-hand and are best positioned to help find sustainable solutions.” The base of the pyramid is the most impacted by coastal erosion, deforestation and other environmental issues. Yet, she laments, they are often the least consulted.
“We talk about inclusion, yet we don’t include the very people we cannot bypass to achieve sustainability. Without our base, we will keep having intellectual dialogues, going in circles, achieving little to nothing. What we know for sure is that without the base, the pyramid will crumble.” Seynabou is committed to build a sustainability agenda informed by influential business leaders in Africa. But the “righteous indignation” of the youth of Dioubo, Khar Yallah helped seed her deepest motivation. Their determination inspires her to give a voice to ordinary people who are doing extraordinary things and who will ultimately define what sustainability in Africa really means.
“Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to higher sights, the raising of a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations.”
Peter F. Drucker
