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The 5 Key Principles of Responsible Project Management in the African Context 

Ways of Working

Responsible Project Management (RPM) encompasses many theories around sustainability, social, responsibility, and environmental stewardship. The term ‘Responsible’ builds on the idea of Responsible Management and an UN initiative called PRME (Principles of Responsible Management Education) that supports the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). This session will present the RPM ``Manifesto” that explains the 10 driving principles that every infrastructure project must follow to be considered responsible.

Deepening connection and collaboration in teams and projects –

Ways of Working/ Power Skills

All projects require collaboration and connection to be successful. However, it is not always easy to build high performing teams in our global, diverse and dispersed work environment. At PMI we have been exploring this topic since late 2021 with our culture journey work and during this session we’ll share how we leveraged behavioural science to create a unified expectation about how to work cohesively together as teams. Gain some practical ideas and advice on how you can deepen the connection and collaboration of your projects and teams.

Moderator: Kudzai Judith Foroma, Project Manager Paramus Construction Ltd, Zimbabwe

Leveraging the advancements in the field of project management (PM) to improve the success rate of start-up entrepreneurs in Africa.

Power Skills

More than ever, we have a continent at hand whose economy heavily depends on how we support our bold, resilient, and innovative entrepreneurs. Uniquely, we have the most youthful, innovative, and risk-tolerant entrepreneurs. However, they face a common challenge of being ill-equipped to make the most of the scarce resources with which they pursue their ventures. The demand for resources is increasing and outstripping supply very fast, both natural and economic resources. The attendees will identify the top reasons for SE failure how some adaptation of PM advancements benefit SE. Attendees will learn about the Lean startup framework as a potential candidate for continuous improvement through the adoption of SE-tailored PM resources.

Moderator; Kheri R Mbiro, Legal, Tax and Investment Advisor (Chapter President, Tanzania)

The changing role of higher education in equipping graduating students for the project economy

Business Acumen

This session looks at how institutions of learning can enhance equipping of the new workforce to be well schooled and well tooled to meet the increasing expectations of the market.

• The question of curriculum relevance- how well are the institutions aligning their courses to what’s market relevant in project management?
• The secret to achieving future ready graduates for Africa’s project economy
• Cultivating a culture of professional ethics and governance at the education level
• Infusing project management as a fundamental learning course

Aligning Strategy to projects

Business Acumen

The average African business or company has accurately mastered the art of crafting potentially revolutionary Strategy, either through an array of internally developed capabilities or through the help of external firms such as consulting companies. Teams and individuals across man African companies have found it difficult to understand, trace and overall align their day-to-day activities with the overall company strategy. Performance tracking by organisations is still largely driven by outputs. This has contributed immensely to employee dissatisfaction, lack of engagement and overall low morale, while also reducing the probability of organisations realizing these strategic objectives. This presentation will address this disconnection, dissatisfaction and low morale of employees while creating better visibility for improved business performance through the adoption of the OKR Framework. Attendees will be introduced to the simple, powerful OKR Framework (OKR= Objectives and Key Results), and discuss different case studies.

Moderator; Maureen Mbithi Ochang, Head of Enterprise Project Management Office, UAP Old Mutual

Blending Product & Project Management – Powering your digital transformation journey

Power skills/ Ways of Working

Understanding why blending product and project management is critical to powering your digital transformation journey.

• Product Teams vs. Project Teams
• Blending Technical & Human Capabilities
• Deploying & Managing Highly Capable Talent
• Empowering Teams to choose their Way of Work

Moderator; Dominic Kimathi Senior Product Manager iProcure Ltd

Managing Cross Cultural Projects to Success

Power Skills

A rarely considered aspect of managing cross-cultural projects is the nuanced understanding of potential pitfalls and synergies within the interactions between players, due to differences in National Culture. People come to business interactions with influences, biases, expectations, perspectives and assumptions. Many of these are shaped by the National Culture of their origin or adopted countries, cities, communities and companies. In order to reap the full benefits of investment projects, it is vital that we consider the best pairings of such cultural differences - to promote synergy effects or to mitigate harmful ones - and yield the desired business outcomes. In this presentation, attendees will learn about some of these types of interactions through use cases to hone understanding of the nuance in project interactions.

Moderator; Patrick Kathambana, Regional Communications Officer & FES Program Coordinator, Brighthouse Consultancy and Training

Adopting Sustainable and outcomes-based Project Management Practices

Ways of working

Organizations have adopted various ways of working to provide stewardship in achievement sustainable development. From Project Management Offices (PMO), to adopting agility and the Agile Ways of Working to Value Management Offices which have emerged to focus on delivering successful outcomes during & after the project lifecycle. Green Project Management (GPM) practices advocates for Projects Integrating Sustainable Methods (PRiSM) framework - a delivery approach governing finite resources & social responsibility for sustainable project outcomes. This session advocates for project professionals in Africa championing sustainable development by viewing project phases as cyclical lifecycle; from cradle-to-cradle (lifespan after project closure phase) rather than from cradle-to-grave (handover after project closure).

Project Success in the Public Sector

Ways of working

Projects in Africa are not always thought through, that is why up to 70% of them fail to meet their objectives. Project failure in government and social projects is very rampant in both developing and developed countries. It is characterized by high unplanned expenditure, lagging timelines and the result is often of poor quality. What causes this? This Session will ignite a wave of change towards influencing government/ public decisions to see the implementation of proper project management not only in private institutions but at the helm of government. Building the Africa we want starts with us.

Moderator: Whitney Mugo, Project Manager, Buildings Portfolio, Synergetic Development Group.

Embracing tool evolutions for project management

Ways of working

Depending on the ecosystem of our project, we'll have the opportunity to use our own tools or will be obliged to use the organization tool. Whatever the situation, whatever the lifecycle of the project, as project lead we should be ahead of tools adoption as tools have always set breaking points of human history. This session will include a 3-5 min project management simulation Game with attendees, to build thoughts about criticality of tools for project management.

Moderator Akola Ombim, Tech Program Manager, Teya London

The Future of Africa’s Cities

– Business Acumen

Africa is urbanizing rapidly, with the urban population expected to double by 2050. Urbanization brings with it a surge in infrastructure projects, spanning transportation, utilities, and housing. Rapid urbanization across Africa is also driving the need for innovation and the use of advanced technology in project management, particularly in managing large and complex urban development initiatives.

• How can the lack of infrastructure be addressed?
• How are the social impact aspirations of Agenda 2063 shaping the approach to urban development?
• How does the profession need to evolve to rise to the challenge?

Moderator: Tunde Ojo-Aromokudu, CEO Prosite Plan Africa Johannesburg (President, South Africa Chapter)

Unpacking the Construction project management certification

Moderator Eng. William Kemoli, Projects Manager and Contracts Engineer, SMEC International Pty Ltd

Bridging the Digital Divide

Ways of working / Power skills

The challenges and potential solutions to narrowing the gap in Diversity, equality and inclusivity

Moderator: Salima Mohammed, Programme Manager, Youth, Gender and Inclusion, Marie Stopes Clinics

Ways of Working

Accelerating Progress towards a resilient future: Empowering African Development Initiatives Through Agile Project Management –

Agile Project Management can offer significant benefits to African Development initiatives. By adopting Agile principles and practices, these initiatives can enhance their efficiency, effectiveness, and overall project outcomes.

Moderator: Bulla Boma Hekeno, Coach Mentor & Director of Training Services, HEBO Consultant

Ways of working/ Business Acumen

Partnerships for Health

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.”^[1] These goals are not easy to achieve, but there are inspiring success stories that offer useful insights and lessons for project managers across Africa. In this session, we seek to showcase examples of successful African projects that illustrate how cross-sectoral, partnership-based approaches can advance progress towards the goals.  Leveraging partnerships & technology to combat avoidable blindness and visual impairment.

Moderator: Roopal Thaker, Executive Director, ZanaAfrica