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REGION
Africa
A close up of hand and an exam paper of the Basic Education Certificate Examinations in Ghana.
Case

COMING SOON – Lessons of language: selecting a medium of instruction for Ghana’s primary schools

In 2018, Minister of Education Matthew Prempeh was reconsidering the language of instruction (LOI) policy for primary schools in Ghana, a country with more than 80 local languages and English as the national language. Prempeh saw many challenges to implementing the current LOI policy, where Grades 1 through 3 were taught in one of 11 select Ghanaian languages, and Grade 4 onwards taught in English. He considered the options: what LOI policy would best prepare students for a global society?

Coming soon
Inclusion
Education
...
Ghana
Africa
A group of women in colourful dresses in Sierra Leone
Case

Coming soon – Fighting for women’s representation in Sierra Leone

For decades, Sierra Leone’s women’s movement had advocated for a quota for women in decision-making positions. But despite promises from successive governments to heed these calls, no quota had been implemented. By 2021, only 12% of parliamentarians were women. Minister of Gender and Children’s Affairs Manty Tarawalli was now attempting to pass a quota for women to boost representation. The bill had been part of her party's election manifesto yet faced resistance in parliament. How could Tarawalli find a majority?

Coming soon
Democracy and politics
Inclusion
...
Sierra Leone
Africa
Kaduna state government House
Case

Priscilla Ankut at the Kaduna State Peace Commission

In 2017, Priscilla Ankut became the first CEO of the Kaduna State Peace Commission, which aimed to prevent conflict in her home state. After several tough years, she had made many in-roads, but felt much of the work had been palliative rather than structural. In 2021, a new job prospect made her re-consider her role: should she stay at the commission, where she could apply her skills in her own community, or step aside to make way for someone new?
Democracy and politics
Global security
...
Africa
Nigeria
Martin Williams and Nana Agyekum-Dwamena at the 2017 Challenges of Government Conference
Case

Civil service reform in Ghana

In 2014, Nana Agyekum-Dwamena, became head of Ghana’s civil service: an institution plagued by low motivation, inefficiency, and weak performance. In his first weeks in the role, the World Bank offered funding for a major, multi-year reform programme, which he could design. While he had extremely limited financial resources, he had seen major civil service reform programmes fail before. Should he accept the offer, or were there other ways of improving performance?
Public sector
Africa
...
Ghana
Eating Injera
Case

Tackling undernutrition in Ethiopia through the Seqota Declaration

In 2015, undernutrition in Ethiopia was well above the African median but the different ministries involved in tackling the crisis were failing to collaborate, sometimes even working at cross purposes. To address this issue, six ministries agreed to implement the Seqota Declaration – a high-level political commitment to tackling undernutrition. Just a year on, however, one senior minister stopped attending the meetings. What could Health Minister Kesete Admasu do to ensure the Seqota Declaration’s promise of multisectoral collaboration did not fail?
Development
Health
...
Public sector
Africa
Ethiopia
Graffiti of Khaled Mohamed Saeed
Case

Egypt in constitutional crisis

In autumn 2012, following the Egyptian revolution, opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei was concerned about the makeup of the constituent assembly. It was dominated by Islamists who also supported the newly elected president, Mohamed Morsi. With the assembly on the brink of collapse, Morsi sought dialogue with ElBaradei to reach a consensus on the draft constitution. Should ElBaradei accept Morsi’s invitation or join a boycott by other liberal and secular leaders?
Democracy and politics
Global security
...
Africa
Egypt
Cobalt
Case

Mining Royalties in Nafasia

Nafasia, a fictional central African country, has vast cobalt deposits, but among the lowest cobalt royalty rates in the world. As global cobalt prices skyrocket, the government seeks to renegotiate the rate with Alloy, the largest mining company operating in the country. In this short two-party, single-issue negotiation simulation, students role-play the negotiation between the minister of mines and an Alloy executive to learn distributive negotiation techniques and negotiation analysis.
Business and capitalism
Development
...
Public sector
Africa