Ola Ehinmoro’s first eighteen months at the African Union Development Agency, AUDA-NEPAD, offer a powerful illustration of how operational leadership, when grounded in purpose and enabled by visionary executive support, can quietly but fundamentally reshape an institution’s capacity to deliver. What has emerged is not a story of personal reinvention, but of institutional strengthening at a moment when Africa’s development agenda demands speed, credibility, and disciplined execution.
After more than three decades in the private sector spanning FMCG, building materials, and financial services, Ehinmoro’s transition into a continental development institution was deliberate. Those familiar with the move describe it as purpose driven rather than positional. The task before him was clear: strengthen the operational backbone of AUDA-NEPAD so strategy could move faster, partnerships could deepen with confidence, and delivery could scale across regions without sacrificing integrity.
From the outset, the work has been guided by a clear philosophy: operational excellence is not a support function; it is a strategic capability. That belief has shaped how change has been approached across finance, human resources, procurement, administration, and information management. Rather than layering new systems onto old practices, the emphasis has been on simplifying how work gets done, clarifying decision rights, and standardising processes so the organisation can move with consistency and confidence.
One of the most telling aspects of Ehinmoro’s approach has been a refusal to equate transformation with technology alone. The focus has been on redesigning how work flows across the institution, strengthening collaboration between African Union organs, and embedding execution discipline before digitisation accelerates it. This reflects a mature understanding of operations as an institutional capability rather than a functional intervention. By treating execution standards as a shared responsibility across the organisation, operational excellence becomes a collective asset that compounds over time, not a siloed improvement effort confined to one department.
This discipline has produced tangible benefits. Cycle times have reduced, compliance has strengthened, and staff experience has improved as workflows become clearer and more predictable. Importantly, the organisation’s partners increasingly see an institution that can translate commitments into action. In development work, credibility is earned not by intent but by repeatable delivery, and that credibility is built through operational reliability.
Equally significant has been the attention paid to leadership and organisational development. Recognising that systems alone do not sustain performance, Ehinmoro helped activate a leadership development intervention that is a first for AUDA-NEPAD. Rather than treating leadership as a training programme, it has been positioned as a set of shared behaviours anchored in African Union values: service, accountability, unity, integrity, and results for the continent. This approach shifts leadership from an individual attribute to a collective obligation, strengthening alignment between authority, responsibility, and outcomes.
Financial discipline and internal controls have also been elevated as central to operational credibility. Since April 2024, improvements in financial performance and control environments have reinforced funder confidence and aligned the organisation more closely with international best practice. Performance management has been reframed from a compliance exercise into a strategic tool, creating a clearer line of sight between individual objectives, departmental priorities, and AUDA-NEPAD’s continental mandate.
What stands out to observers is the way people have remained central throughout this transformation. Institutional capacity is ultimately human capacity. Deliberate efforts to enhance employee engagement and wellness have acknowledged the pressures of working in a complex, high-stakes environment. By introducing thoughtful, scalable engagement initiatives, the organisation is strengthening resilience and inclusion while building a shared sense of purpose that extends beyond immediate tasks.
Looking ahead, the next phase of work is equally ambitious. Further digitisation is being positioned as a strategic enabler rather than an end in itself, supporting real-time visibility, faster decisions, and more consistent execution across regions. At the same time, attention is turning to refining AUDA-NEPAD’s delivery model so accountability is clearer and coordination with partners at continental, regional, and national levels is more seamless. This is essential if programmes are to translate more effectively into results on the ground.
These developments also sharpen the organisation’s mandate, aligning strategy, delivery, and measurable impact more tightly with Africa’s long-term aspirations under Agenda 2063. Institutions that succeed at this level do not rely on heroic effort; they rely on systems, culture, and leadership alignment.
Crucially, those close to the organisation are clear that this progress has been made possible by the enabling leadership of the Chief Executive Officer, Ms Nardos Bekele-Thomas. Her stewardship has provided clarity of direction, institutional backing, and the space for operational excellence to take root. By setting the tone that delivery matters as much as vision, she has created the conditions under which leaders like Ola Ehinmoro can do their best work in service of the continent.
The broader lesson is instructive. Strategy does not live in plans or speeches; it lives in operating models, leadership norms, and everyday decisions. AUDA-NEPAD’s experience over the past eighteen months shows what becomes possible when execution is treated with the same seriousness as ambition. In celebrating this performance, the institution reinforces a culture where results are recognised, collaboration is valued, and leadership is understood as stewardship rather than spotlight.
