State of HR in Africa

Although there has not been any comprehensive or systematic research on the state of HR in Africa the following are observable:

- There is a paradigm shift from the old practice of Personnel Management to Human Resources Management

- The number of people with HR qualifications is increasing in a number of countries. This refers to those with qualifications from national certificate level up to Masters level.

- Human Resource Management is young but growing at an amazing rate. The HR function in a number of organizations has been elevated with the head of HR being members of the Executive Management Team, HR Board sub-committees and at the Board of Directors’ level.
The IPMZ of Zimbabwe is already offering certificates, diplomas and degree qualifications. IPMZ is also looking at offering a masters’ programme in partnership with the University of Derby. The local University in Botswana has begun to show interest in HR and has plans to increase HR content in its programmes at under graduate and graduate levels. In Uganda for instance the institutions of higher learning have introduced the HRM discipline at diploma, degree and Masters degree in Human Resource Management.

- Membership of the IHRM is increasing gradually and also broadening to include other categories of people such as education administrators who were formerly not interested. - There is a growing interest in HR networking bodies and professional associations in particular. Associations Like the Human Resource Managers Association of Uganda has been formed and is spearheading the Mobilizations and advocacy for HR practices in the work place. In Zimbabwe, despite operating in a harsh economic environment the IPMZ institute has continued to grow and its membership stands at 7322 compared to 5822 for the same period last year. This was an increase of 26%.

- In Botswana the IHRM has been nominated into a committee to lay the groundwork for the formation of an “Ethics” body. This is an indication of the recognition of the influence of HR generally and of the IHRM in the economy. It is noted that members of IPMZ have been appointed to serve on the Boards of different organizations.

- The IHRM, Botswana is planning to hold national annual convention during the second week of November. The CIPM Nigeria conference is to be held at Abuja, Nigeria from 13th to 15th October, 2004. The theme is Globalization: The HR Challenge. The HMAU is planning an August event to interact with their CEOs and the theme is: Corporate HRM, the expectations from the CEOs.

MACROECONOMIC DATA

According to OECD Development Report 2003/2004 on African Economic outlook, it is asserted that, despite weak world economic growth and continued structural and political constraints in some parts of the continent, Africa has shown relatively good economic progress over the past year. Africa’s 2003 growth rate of 3.6%was a four year high, significantly higher than the 2.7% growth rate in 2002. Attributed to this are three elements that have combined to support this recovery: favorable international commodity prices, increases in international aid and improved security in key areas of the continent.

The US economic turnaround and geopolitical developments in the Middle East boosted oil prices benefiting Nigeria, Chad, Equatorial Guinea and other African oil producing countries. The gold price continued the upward trend started in 2001, which was good for SA as well as Ghana and Mali. Adverse weather effects in US favoured upward cotton prices in the region. The support of the international community to the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) initiative contributed to a rise in aid to Africa of 32% in 2002 and 2003. Efforts in poverty alleviation have been stepped up e.g. unleashing Africa’s huge energy potential against poverty have been an area on focus.

However, HIV/AIDS continues to be a major threat especially in countries where advocacy to tackling the pandemic remain low. Sustained economic growth and prudent macroeconomic management are threatened by the epidemic. Finding solutions or interventions to this societal threat is top of agenda in many workplace areas. The challenge is gaining line managers support to HR in playing a vital role in its management in a workplace.

HR PROFESSION

Challenges facing HR
- The HR Challenges are political, economic, socio-cultural and technological.

- Globalisation, liberalization and privatization coupled with the changing technology and the nature of competition in the markets continue to pose major challenges to the management of Human Resources in the region. Workforce diversity resulting from the organizational environmental changes is also challenging to HRM i.e. working out reward systems and motivation schemes that are constantly satisfactory. A new culture is being created.

- The threat of HIV/AIDS to HRM and workplace management in general cannot be overemphasized. The HR practitioners' role in the management of HIV/AIDS in the Workplace is critical.

- Increasing demands from society and employees i.e. very many pressure groups seeking to protect the interests of the various members of the work force. For example the HIV affected work force and the resistance from other employees.

- Most Associations are either starting or transitioning from the Personnel Management institutions. However their poor financial status has affected their ability to operate effectively. Lack of financial resources to establish administration support in order to bolster its influence. IHRM activities are coordinated by volunteers and this has serious impact on continuity and effectiveness. Even where the secretariat exists, the voluntary nature of the services from the members does affect their effective participation in areas of concern.

- Lack of national HR standards and/or body enforcing such standards

- Lack of professionalisation of HR functions, particularly in organisations where most non-HR professionals head.

- Lack of professional standardization in the region. Need to have common code of ‘ethics’

- ‘Brain drain’ a number of skilled staff leaving the region for ‘greener pastures’ or to seek educational qualifications overseas. Our challenges are to lure these people back into Africa by using the African Federation as a vehicle to come back.

- Although HR status is increasing, the function is still expected to make operational and/or administrative rather than strategic input in organizations. HR activities such as recruitment and training are not viewed as sources of sustainable competitive advantage. Establishing HR function as a strategic partner is still a challenge.

NATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

Country	Association/ Institute	Membership progress	Projects/issues	Changes happening in leadership
Botswana	IHRM	Growing	Annual Convention in Nov 2004. Member of committee to lay ground work for code of 'Ethics'	-
Nigeria	CIPM	-	Annual conference in Abuja -Oct 13-15 on Globalisation: an HR challenge. Regular Public lectures	-
South Africa	IPM	Static	Annual Convention - Sun City Aug. 22-24	-
Uganda	HRMAU	Growing from 86 in 2003 to 110	August Event: Corporate HR expectations from CEOs Regular Public lectures	Current council serving a 2 year term August 03 to July 05
Zimbabwe	IPMZ	Growing at 26% rate: 7322 in 2004 to 5822 in 2003	Initiated relationships with the University of Derby to offer HR masters degrees	-

COMPETENCY SHIFTS THAT AFFECT HR PROFESSIONALS
Generally there is an increased importance attached to HR certification and professionalism on the whole.

IPMZ Examinations
Examinations are at the core of their activities, they take particular care to ensure that these are professionally conducted, meticulously marked and accurately processed. This is in line with the Institute’s constitutional obligations of Establishing Appropriate Qualifications and Examining Candidates. In this regard a total of 473 diplomas were issued in 2003 compared to 515 in 2002, at the Higher Diploma level, 71 candidates passed 5 subjects compared to 67 candidates in 2002. 18 candidates were awarded their full Higher Diplomas after completing their dissertations compared to 3 in 2002. There are currently 150 dissertations being processed.

However, there is no generally agreed standard of professional certification in the region, different institutes that have HR diploma and degree courses offer it differently e.g. IPMZ, AFRHMA are looking at the possibility of partnering with CIPD (UK) and/or SHRM (USA) – to establish our professional standards

PROJECTS
The AFHRMA is planning its inaugural Annual Conference targeted to take place in the third week of February 2005. The members agreed unanimously that this conference should be held in South Africa. Major topics for the conference include the following:

- Establishing universal HR qualifications for the profession in Africa

- Common strategies to combat HIV/AIDS in the workplace
- HRD as a cornerstone to NEPAD and the African Union
- Labour law in Africa
- Reversing the skills shortage
- HR as the key driver of ethics and corporate governance in organisations

A number of good and experienced speakers in the area of people development and leadership have been identified. We are in the process of finalizing their commitment to participate before we embark on an aggressive marketing campaign for the conference.

MEMBERSHIP DRIVE
AFHRMA is continuing to recruit membership. We are currently in contact with colleagues in Mauritius, Mali and Mozambique. At his stage there are no further developments with regard to AFDIP.

WFPMA BOARD REPRESENTATION
Florence Namatta-Mawejje from Uganda has been nominated as the second WFPMA Board representativ