On July 16, 2020, AADFI organized a webinar for Human Resource professionals in African Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) on the theme: “Repositioning HR and Leadership Capabilities in the time of COVID-19”.

The programme was declared open by Mr. BOUSHABA Abdelouahab, AADFI Executive Committee Member, Regional Representative for North Africa, and Deputy Chief Executive, Tamwil El Fellah, Morocco. In his opening remark, he reiterated the disruptive impact of the COVID-19 on all sectors of the global economy, including the finance sector, and as such, advocated that DFIs should evolve strategies to adapt to the situation and ensure that their business continues.

The webinar had over 70 participants from DFIs across Africa. The conversation focused on Human Resource management issues and challenges during COVID-19 pandemic, and how HR professionals in African DFIs are adapting to managing human capital in their organizations in the time of COVID.  Other issues discussed include: Rebooting HR strategies, resilience, and adaptability in times of crisis; and Leadership issues to ensure business continuity.

Drawing from the conversation, it was obvious that the world of work will not remain the same. As Development Finance Institutions in Africa struggle to cope with the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, HR professionals have a critical role to play, now, during, and after the current situation, and they will need to remain proactive and innovative.  The key drivers for success in managing human capital going forward were highlighted to include among others: focused strategy (rebooting HR strategies in DFIs), the need for gap analysis (looking at the competency and competencies in terms of skills composition), and resilient leadership (adaptable leaders that are able to contextualize situations and make quick decisions).

The programme was brought in partnership with the Pan African Capacity-Building Programme (PACBP) of the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA).