AMDIN - The 1st AMDIN Biennial Conference and General Meeting

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The 1st AMDIN Biennial Conference and General Meeting - Opening Statement

30 August 2007

Development Bank of Southern Africa, Midrand, South Africa

Vulindlela Training Academy

Full Version (172Kb ~ 1 min)

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Today, virtually to the day, 2 years ago the African Management Development Institutes’ Network (AMDIN) was launched in Sandton, Johannesburg. Many of you were present on that historical day where you adopted your first constitution, and elected the leadership team for the first term to steer the organization through its first two years – a period we all know can be challenging but are of immense importance for the longer term effectiveness of an organisation.

I am happy to admit here today, that there was a period that we were worried that the AMDIN child was going to be short-lived when the first 15 months passed with very little progress to show. However, true leadership was shown when from within the team at the helm of the organization some critical questions were asked, checking within the ranks on what needs doing, better, smarter and faster. When resources, however limited, was committed to the process because we believed in the organization. We have seen how commitment, dedication and energy, backed up by some financial resources can quickly show results. We are now a mere 9 months after that process of introspection. AMDIN has clearly turned the corner and is now stronger with more potential than ever before. Within the range of initiatives that the Ministers’ Conference have spawned during the past four years, I would argue that AMDIN is now one that shows significant potential of turning into a true legacy initiative.

The training of an expert cadre of trainers under the 5 year JICA funded programme is well-underway. AMDIN has been strongly networked within the public administration knowledge community – both on the continent, but also further a field internationally. The AMDIN name and concept is one that is becoming more familiar and events such as this conference will greatly aid in terms of raising the profile of AMDIN.

The importance of the launch of AMDIN in August 2005 was not necessarily in what the network constituted at the time, but rather how a number of the approaches we believe are of fundamental importance in the development and reconstruction of the African continent came together. Amongst these approaches were the commitment to African ownership of the network and its initiatives; sharing among one another our little material resources, but generous in the ideas and thoughts; acknowledging the importance of public administration for development and above all, a burning desire for continuous improvement. It mirrored the very real commitment evident in many of the African Union and the NEPAD programme’s documents, a desire and determination, a necessity for Africa to extricate herself form the malaise of underdevelopment and the invidious position she finds herself in, in terms of the globalizing world. Consequently, it was the potential of what the network stood for, the vision we had for it, that was really important.

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