**6. Advancing African scholarship through Afrocentric leadership in higher education**

In this chapter, we argue that African scholarship could be advanced through Afrocentric leadership in higher education. In this case, the epistemological discourse of African scholarship is centered on the Afrocentric framing of knowledge production for ontological use for Africa development. An African university is envisaged upon its cardinal mandate of liberating African people from Western knowledge enclavism and dominance [78]. Asante [79] defines the Afrocentricity theory as "a manner of thought and action in which the centrality of African interests, values, and perspectives predominate." He further states that "Afrocentricity is an exercise in knowledge and a new historical perspective" ([79], p. 150). Afrocentricity is a historical evolution, an intellectual movement, and/or a political outlook that stresses the achievements and culture of Africans. Afrocentricity implies "African centeredness," in which Africans are able to claim their intellectual egotism as originators of their own civilization [80]. Tshishonga [81] reckons that:

*Commitment to learning and personal development is a fundamental principle of any university which makes these institutions to have a competitive advantage. Highly rated and performing universities are those designed to attract well-rounded scholars, academics and researchers of great integrity especially in research production. There is a huge investment in higher education not only to attract solid academics but also to develop and nurture a new crop of young academics eager to integrate all core business of a university for African scholarship.*

However, for higher education to be efficient, effective, and productive, leadership and collegial environment are imperative for all educational stakeholders (academics, support staff, students, and governments) to advance intellectual scholarship. Leadership based on Afrocentricity theory is mindful of creating an environment conducive to inspire African scholarship capable of liberating students and academics for Africa development and renewal. The application of Afrocentric leadership has to do with the transformation of Higher Education and the quest to foreground universities in planning and thinking strategically along the five phases of decolonization rediscovery and recovery, mourning, dreaming, commitment, and action. Thus, the theory of Afrocentricity, as Kumalo [82] argues that "privileges the experiences of the African people." This narrative intensifies the radical departure from the linear Eurocentric pathway of acquiring knowledge influenced by Western educational values and principles. Afrocentricity has potential to enhance the feeling of selfidentity, reaffirm African intellectualism and capabilities, and eliminate prejudice and discrimination of the African philosophies.

Whereas scholars have tried to characterize managers and leaders as two different concepts, during the actual conduct in the office, the two are not separable. While managers employ company-set standards and follow prescribed procedures to perform tasks, leaders depend on informal personal attributes to influence organizational change [50]. Both the leader and the manager are part of the company leadership, that is, they have people reporting to them. Scholars acknowledge that the concept of leadership is highly contested because of its fluid nature. In the case of Afrocentric leadership in higher education, leaders, such as the DVCs, Deans, or Directors, are to use their influence to carry forth the university mission to transform higher education toward the development of the African continent. As observed during the COVID-19 pandemic, university leadership employed situational discretional decisions to save the academic year [83]. Contextual decisions were taken to ensure that no student is left behind. The African principle of Ubuntu prevailed to accommodate students from diverse conditions through blended learning and not full online teaching. Afrocentric leadership demands that university leaders maintain a balance on both the corporate, academic, and social responsibility in driving the university's

#### *Toward Advancing African Scholarship through Afrocentric Leadership in Higher Education DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108459*

mission. As cited in Imoka [31], leaders who seek to advance Afrocentric ideology in higher education would take the responsibility to ensure that teaching, research, and community engagement are directed toward reclaiming the African values. This is when education seeks to explore innovative means to develop available human and material resources such as minerals to enrich Africans.

Considering that higher education is still operational along colonial policies and model, development of African scholarship could be instrumental in grounding academic activism for transformed African university [84]. Most universities particularly are envisioned along the advancement of African scholarship; however, without concrete plans in place, the vision of building African universities based on African scholarship and values will remain a dream deferred or undermined. That is despite the fact that African universities are central to Africa development and her progress [85]. The African university is based on African scholarship, and such universities should help the African people to liberate themselves through the acquisition of knowledge that is useful for their own development [86].

Despite the hardships faced by most African universities, Business Insider Africa [87] ranked some of the 10 top best African universities in the world. Universities shining in academic excellence are: a) University of Cape Town, b) University of Witwatersrand, c) Stellenbosch University, d) University of KwaZulu-Natal, e) Cairo University, f) University of Johannesburg, g) the University of Ibadan, h) University of Pretoria, i) Mansoura University, and j) North-West University. Accordingly, these institutions of higher education are led by leaders who thrived to constantly transform their institutions for expansion, modernization, and incorporation of technology as strategies toward rendering knowledge to be locally relevant and globally competitive. For Makhanya [11], leaders of such research intense institutions reposition their transformation agenda in eradicating colonial, apartheid, and imperial legacies while at the same time building the institutional capacity for multidisciplinary scholarship in research, teaching, and community engagement. However, in order for African learning institutions to achieve world-class good education, which is competitive, improvement of infrastructure (including digital), increasing of research capabilities, seeking multiple sources of funding and reforming curricula is imperative [22]. Importantly, the radical intensification of developing curriculum based on indigenous knowledge system (IKS) is key in reforming higher education in Africa. Evidently, Masoga [88] argues that research and application of indigenous knowledge systems could bring change in sectors (such mining, medicine, education, agriculture, etc) and through the use of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4th IR) embedded innovations and technologies, IKS could be used to solve challenges besetting the African continent.
