The African Development Bank Annual Meetings

Sofitel Hotel, Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, 26-30 May 2025

 

Conference Theme

Making Africa’s Capital Work Better for Africa’s Development

Partner Profile:

Vantage Growth’s Human Capital Capabilities


Empowering African Leaders, Transforming Organizations and Driving Africa’s Sustained Inclusive Global Market Growth and Societal Impact

The African Growth Imperative

A careful review of the African Development Bank’s 2024-2033 Ten-Year Strategy revealed many insights contained in this analysis. Over the past two decades, Africa has made substantial progress in major economic, political, governance, resource management, and social and livelihood outcomes. This period of record progress is only a prelude to the dramatic growth opportunities and challenges that will mark the next 25 years and beyond in the 21st century.

Africa’s youth population will explode over the next 25 years doubling in size with Africa leading the world with an estimated youth population of 850 million and comprising 40% of the world’s youth population. It’s a population that will continue to increase and represent 75% of Africa’s population by the end of the 21st century.

Growth in major African cities is also estimated to double and over the next century the population of the African diaspora will also double to more than 2.5 billion people.

These seismic demographic trends are already creating a surge in demand for human, financial, technological, natural resources, social and political capital needed for skill and capacity building and capital investment and financing incentives for ADB’s High 5 priorities and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the supporting human resources, infrastructure, green and digital transformation, entrepreneurial innovation, governance and regional partnerships essential for achieving Africa’s transformation. These trends will only significantly accelerate over the next 25 years and beyond.

Costs of Weak, Under-Skilled African Leadership and Workforce Talent

The current leadership and human capital challenges that Africa has historically faced still remain despite Africa’s progress and growth over the past two decades. However, future growth will demand more.

Our partnership solutions starts with analyzing the key factors:

  1. Economic Losses:
    • Youth Unemployment: Each year, 10-12 million young people enter Africa’s labor markets, but only 3 million formal sector jobs are created. This mismatch leads to high unemployment and underemployment, which stifles economic growth and innovation.
    • Skills Gap: One in five business leaders cite a lack of skilled workers as a major constraint on their businesses, limiting productivity and competitiveness. This is a critical priority to address since the private sector will account for 70% of the jobs needed to drive economic and livelihoods growth.
    • Educational Deficits: Africa’s education systems are poorly aligned with labor market needs, with low completion rates and inadequate focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Gross enrollment in tertiary education is just 10%, further limiting the pool of skilled workers.

 

 

  1. Gender Disparities:
    • Women face systemic barriers to accessing education, jobs, and leadership roles, reducing their productivity by 20-30% compared to men in agriculture and other sectors. This inequality limits the overall economic potential of the continent.

 

 

  1. Brain Drain:
    • Skilled professionals often migrate out of Africa due to limited opportunities, exacerbating the workforce deficit and reducing the continent’s ability to leverage its demographic dividend.

 

Return on Investment (ROI) of Optimizing Human Capital

Our partner solutions apply research in collaborating on evidenced based strategies that make the case for our approach as an investment, not a cost per se that demonstrates our strategic and financial case proving through past performance that have achieved for a sustainable return on outcomes and impact for our partners including the following:

 

 

  1. Economic Gains:
    • Youth Entrepreneurship: Investments in youth entrepreneurship and skills development can transform Africa’s burgeoning young population into a productive workforce, driving inclusive growth and innovation.
    • Job Creation: By supporting technical and vocational education (TVET) and STEM fields, Africa can create millions of decent jobs, reducing unemployment and boosting economic productivity.

  1. Leadership Capital:
    • Empowering Women: Closing gender gaps and empowering women through initiatives like Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) can unlock their full economic potential, driving inclusive growth and social transformation.
    • Youth Leadership: Establishing Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Banks (YEIBs) to finance youth-led businesses in emerging sectors like digital technology and climate-smart industries can catalyze leadership and innovation.
  2. Social Impact:
    • Improved Quality of Life: Investments in education, health, and financial inclusion can enhance living standards, reduce inequality, and foster social mobility.
    • Resilience to Shocks: A skilled and empowered workforce is better equipped to adapt to climate change, economic volatility, and other challenges.

 

Leveraging and Developing Africa’s Leadership and Human Capital

Now, Africa is poised to achieve the world’s greatest economic, technological, societal, human growth, development, innovation and global transformation into the next century. Capitalizing on its rich traditions and enduring resilience, determination, culture, partnerships, innovation and discoveries, Africa’s strengths and its future are in its own hands to achieve its most challenging but achievable goals ever to meet an evolutionary moment.

 

 

And the key to Africa’s next stage of evolution lies in the strongest possible leadership – at the most senior governance, board level, C-Suite executive leadership, management and supervisory levels in all sectors, industries, regions, organizations and communities. The African Leadership Assessment and Report conducted in 2007 by the Center for Creative Leadership, a 25-year Vantage Growth partner points to these strengths as essential for continued growth and development to meet these current times.

 

 

Vantage Growth is also focused on new leadership research to better understand the increasing demands of leading amidst volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity unseen before. Stakeholder inclusion and effective collaboration is the key to unlocking Africa’s greatest resource – its people and through a strong, sustainable leadership pipeline to:

“Make Africa’s Capital Work Better for Africa’s Development.”

The most valued capital and resource for growth is building leadership excellence across all sectors. The only obstacle to achieving that growth is the failure to do so.

Vantage Growth’s Partnership Strengths, Capabilities & Differentiators to Support The African Development Banks High 5 Goals

  1. Strategic Alignment with ADB’s High 5 Goals:

    Vantage Growth has past performance and High 5 expertise in: 1) power, 2) food security, 3) industrialization, 4) integration, and 5) improving quality of life through leadership development, organizational change, and strategic planning, both in Africa and globally.

  2. Past and Current Performance Record in Africa:

    Past performance includes successful projects in South Africa, Benin, Kenya, Tanzania, Cote d’Ivoire, DRC, and more than 40 other African nations, showcasing regional expertise.

  3. Diverse Expertise and Global Reach:

    Vantage Growth’s team has 150 years of combined leadership and organizational development across 75 countries, 100 organizational and 30 industries, including Africa-focused projects. This positions the consortium as a globally recognized leader in leadership development and organizational change and a valued partner in supporting ADB’s High 5 Goals.

  4. Locally-Led Solutions:

    The success of Vantage Growth’s approach to supporting sustainable local partner-led solutions is dependent upon a collaborative, client-centered engagement practice, tailored to Africa’s unique, economic, and social contexts; regional challenges and opportunities, and culturally relevant leadership philosophies such as Ubuntu and Satyagraha are central to our design. Past collaboration with local non-profit NGO partners throughout Africa and other applicable global experiences have consistently focused on ADB’s High 5 goals, and supporting for sustainable economic development, financial innovation, education, infrastructure, and workforce development priorities and UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

  5. Financial ROI:

    Proven track record of delivering $1-2M annual value through strategic initiatives for $200M- $6B domestic and global organizations, expertise in mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings, turnaround, restructuring and high-growth organizational assignments, strategic initiatives for large, global organizations, demonstrating the ability to strategically optimize human capital and drive financial innovation at scale with a 30-year dual focus on leadership capital.

  6. Evidence-Based Impact:

    Proven methodologies rigorously grounded in applied behavioral science, neuroscience, longitudinal leadership research, validated assessments and data analytics to ensure measurable outcomes, sustainable growth impact, aligned with ADB High 5 goals and supporting priorities and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

  7. Inclusive Youth & Gender Leadership Development:

    Vantage Growth empowers leaders to foster equity, optimize talent, and build inclusive organizational cultures, directly supporting ADB’s goals of gender and youth empowerment and critical talent gaps in Africa. Have coached women and men African millennial professionals and leaders working in corporate internships in the U.S. on career planning and development; and advised women and men millennial global social entrepreneurs on leading and managing their enterprises effectively to qualify for venture capital investment

  8. Private, Non-Profit and Public Sector Capacity Building:

    Expertise in growing and scaling national, regional, African and global leadership development initiatives across sectors such as agribusiness, healthcare, education, energy, STEM, infrastructure to address critical current and future talent gaps in Africa’s growth industries. Decades of deep experience in 30 global private sector industries and also with deep expertise collaborating with non-profit and public-private partners.

  9. Scalable Solutions:

    Expertise in designing leadership programs at scale for national, regional and global impact; Past experience in energy, healthcare, agribusiness, telecommunications and media, international development and manufacturing. and globally sponsored leadership development programs.

  10. Collaborative, Global, Regional and Local Partnerships:

    Track record of successful collaborations with organizations including the Global Fund, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, international Finance Corporation.

  11. Sustainability Focus:

    Integration of green and digital transformation strategies to align with SDGs and drive long-term impact; past successful C-Suite and Board advisory experience in indigenous affairs, environmental conservation and protection, natural resource management, minerals and mining, global landscape management and renewable, clean energy sectors in expertise supporting the ADB’s High 5 priorities of energy, food security, industrialization and quality of life.

  12. Human-Centered Design:

    Leveraging neuroscience and behavioral science to optimize leadership and team behaviors, dynamics, communication and decision making in its programs, Vantage Growth has effectively collaborating with clients and partners in all of its executive coaching, gender and youth leadership inclusion development programs.

  13. Comprehensive Leadership Development Tools:

    Use of validated assessments including Executive Benchmarks, 360 By Design, EQi-2.0, DiSC, and Intercultural Development Inventory, Clifton StrengthsFinder ensures tailored development plans for leaders. Certified in Center for Creative Leadership Assessments, used in regionally assessing African leaders for twenty years.

  14. Market Expertise:

    Deep understanding through rigorous research and experience living and working in Africa of Africa’s leadership challenges and opportunities, including urban population growth, youth empowerment, and regional integration, emerging markets, market inclusion and underlying causes to leadership development pipeline deficiencies for helping develop strategies supporting strong partner collaboration and alignment with ADB’s 2024-2033 Ten-Year Plan.

Contact the Vantage Growth Team

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Our Team

Darryl Simon, Managing Partner: darryl.simon@vantagegrowth.com

 

Sandrine Mabaya, Partner: sandrine.mabaya@vantagegrowth.com

About
Vantage Growth

Africa’s Partner for Leadership Development to Maximize its Competitive Human Capital Advantage

Vantage Growth is a premier global leadership and organizational development consultancy established in 2000. With 150 years of combined global experience across 75 countries, including 46 countries in Africa, partnering with more than 100 organizations and 30 industries; we specialize in creating locally-led solutions that align with Africa’s priorities for economic development, financial innovation, education, infrastructure, digital and green transformation, governance, and workforce development.

Our diverse team of experts collaborates with private, nonprofit, and public sector clients to deliver tailored, evidence-based solutions that optimize leadership, drive organizational growth, and foster inclusive cultures.

Vantage Growth empowers leaders, organizations, and systems to achieve sustainable, measurable outcomes by leveraging evidence-based strategies, inclusive leadership development, and human-centered organizational design to achieve organizational goals and objectives for growth, change and innovation.

Our science, research and data-decision based approach integrates behavioral science, neuroscience, development research and data analytics to deliver high-impact results that optimize human capital, drive innovation, and foster inclusive growth.

Our Mission

To empower leaders and organizations to achieve sustainable, measurable outcomes by leveraging innovative strategies, inclusive leadership practices, and data-driven systems solutions for achieving sustainable growth and transformation at scale.

Our Unique Value Proposition

Vantage Growth offers a globally recognized, evidence-based approach to leadership and organizational development, tailored to African contexts. Its focus on locally-led, collaborative solutions aligns with the African Development Bank’s (ADB) priorities of governance, financial innovation, digital and green transformation, and youth and gender empowerment. We have a proven record of delivering measurable financial ROI (approximately $1-2M annually) and strategic value for organizations across diverse sectors, including healthcare, education, energy, and technology.

 

 

Key Offerings

  • Strategic Business Planning
  • Executive Coaching
  • Leadership Development
  • Organizational Change and Transformation
  • Strategic Growth and Cultural Alignment
  • Youth and Gender Empowerment
  • Workforce Planning and Development
  • Human Capital Enterprise Management

 

 

Key Sectors

  • Aerospace and Aviation
  • Agribusiness and Commodities
  • Bio-Technology
  • Consumer Products
  • Culture and History
  • Education
  • Energy
  • Financial Services
  • Hospitality
  • Healthcare Services
  • Housing
  • International Finance and Development
  • Media, Sports and Entertainment
  • National Security and Intelligence
  • Non-Profit
  • Office Real Estate Development
  • Pharmaceuticals
  • Public Sector
  • Policy Research and Think Tanks
  • STEM
  • Telecommunications

Partial List of Clients

  • Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development
  • Avangrid
  • BET Networks
  • Boston Scientific Corp.
  • Bunge International
  • CBS Television Studios
  • Choice Hotels International
  • Clorox
  • Comcast/NBC Universal
  • Constellation Energy
  • Dimension Data
  • DowDuPont
  • Fannie Mae
  • Freddie Mac
  • Global Fund
  • Habitat for Humanity
  • HBO Max
  • International Monetary Fund
  • Invesco
  • Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab
  • KPMG
  • MedStar Health
  • National Football League
  • Northrop Grumman
  • One Main Financial
  • Paramount Global
  • Sallie Mae
  • Time Warner Verizon
  • University of Southern California
  • Yale New Haven Health

 

Growth Sectors

  • Initial Public Offerings (IPO)
  • Mergers & Acquisitions (M&As)
  • Organic Growth and Diversification
  • Start Up/Early Stage
  • Strategic Partnerships and Alliances
  • Turnarounds and Takeovers

Unique Approach: We employ a multi-disciplinary, client-centered methodology grounded in applied behavioral science, neuroscience, and data analytics. Our solutions are collaborative, inclusive, and sustainably designed to deliver measurable impact.

Sample of Proven Results

  • Coached 300 executives and leadership teams, leading to a 75% improvement in outcomes and doubling of established industry success rates.
  • Assembled and developed inclusive teams outperforming less diverse teams by as much as 5:1, consistent with stock market data linking diverse leadership with superior financial performance.
  • Trained 10,000 leaders for growth, achieving an average excellence rating from 95% of participants.
  • Consulted with 100 organizations across 30 sectors on 5 continents, earning a 50% repeat business rate for expanded services.
  • Delivered measurable outcomes in sectors such as global agribusiness, healthcare, international development, financial services, and energy, leading to 100% repeat business over 35 years.

Vantage Growth’s Leadership Development Approach

Vantage Growth approaches leadership development through a comprehensive, evidence-based, and inclusive methodology designed to empower leaders and drive measurable organizational impact.

Key aspects of our approach include:

  1. Brain-Based and Behavioral Science Approach
    • Focuses on neuroscience and applied behavioral science to develop leadership behaviors, skills, and abilities.
    • Emphasizes forming new habits and behaviors through repetition, rewards, and encouragement.
    • Uses brain-based learning pathways to foster innovation and effective problem-solving.
  2. Self-Awareness and Feedback
    • Encourages leaders to increase self-awareness through feedback as a mirror to identify blind spots.
    • Guides leaders from self-awareness to self-knowledge and self-management, enabling mastery of their strengths and areas for development.
  3. Validated Assessments and Action Plans
    • Utilizes tools such as 360 by Design, Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQi-2.0), Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, and Clifton Strengths
    • Finder to assess leadership potential.
    • Develops tailored action plans based on assessment results, feedback, and coaching goals to achieve predictive performance outcomes.

  4. Inclusive Leadership Development
    • Focuses on the emotional and cognitive skills of inclusive leaders, including authenticity, resilience, flexibility, and inquisitiveness.
    • Helps leaders build interpersonal trust, manage diverse perspectives, and optimize team talent.
  5. Team Leadership and Inclusion
    • Guides leaders in managing diverse team dynamics by understanding differences in thinking, perception, and behavior.
    • Promotes inclusive team norms, respect, and dignity to build cohesion while valuing both differences and similarities.
  6. Continuous Improvement and Innovation
    • Employs a continuous data feedback loop to instill a growth mindset and drive ongoing improvement.
    • Coaches leaders to develop innovation skills essential for navigating change and transformation.
  7. Global Strategic Thinking and Change Management
    • Develops leaders to navigate complex organizational strategies, behaviors, and cultures.
    • Focuses on adaptive, resilient traits and skills necessary for growth and transformation in volatile environments.
  8. Measurable Results and Impact
    • Incorporates quantitative and qualitative metrics into leadership development projects to evaluate results and ensure continuous improvement.

 

Conclusion

Vantage Growth is uniquely positioned to support the African Development Bank’s mission, High 5 goals, priorities and SDGs by delivering high-impact leadership development solutions that drive sustainable growth, innovation, and inclusion across Africa.