Abuja, January 2026: African leaders have been urged to distinguish economic stabilisation from economic recovery as they are never the same thing.
Caroline Lucas, Director Special Projects at the United Kingdom-based leadership development organisation TEXEM UK, said on the website www.texem.co.uk that an economy may stabilise without really recovering.
Lucas announced that in February, TEXEM will be hosting a virtual programme for Nigerian and African leaders to educate participants about this and other leadership topics.
She said the programme titled ‘Leading through Disruption: Strategy, Agility and Influence ‘ will bring together internationally reputable TEXEM faculty expected to deliver it, using TEXEM’s time-tested methodology.
“The themes we are exploring: Strategy, Agility, and Influence, know no borders.
“However, they (the themes) carry a unique weight in the African context today. We are meeting at a pivotal moment where the global narrative of “recovery” often clashes with the local reality of “resilience”, Lucas said.
Speaking on “The Fallacy of the Upward Curve” the TEXEM Director reiterated that the difficult truth African leaders should acknowledge is that economic stabilisation is not recovery.
“In boardroom discussions, we often see a “return to form” in the data. Currency fluctuations may level off, inflation rates might dip slightly from their peaks, and headline GDP figures may begin to look more optimistic.
“But as leaders, we cannot afford to be seduced by the spreadsheet. Stabilisation is merely the absence of further decline, it is the floor, not the ceiling.
“For many of your organizations and citizens, the “lived economic pressure” remains at an all-time high. The cost of living, the cost of capital, and the cost of doing business have created a structural fatigue that a few positive quarters cannot instantly cure,” Lucas explained.
She also addressed what she called “The Leadership Paradox: Margins vs. Trust” where she noted that chief executives and many African leaders are currently operating within a high-stakes paradox.
According to Lucas, in order to ensure the survival of their institutions, the executives must restore margins.
“You face the cold necessity of streamlining operations, protecting cash flow, and ensuring profitability in volatile markets. Yet, there is a secondary ledger that is just as critical: The Trust Deficit.
“When you are forced to make hard pivots, your stakeholders, like employees, customers, and communities, are watching. If you restore your margins at the total expense of their well-being, you haven’t led through disruption; you have simply survived it at the cost of your future influence,” she asserted.
Lucas also spoke about “Strategy and Agility in Practice” explaining that in the present African landscape, strategy is no longer a five-year fixed map but should be taken as a compass.
“Agility is not just moving fast, it is the ability to change direction without losing momentum.
“Influence is the currency you will need to spend to keep your teams engaged when the “headline figures” suggest things are fine, but their personal bank accounts suggest otherwise.
“Your challenge is to lead with intellectual honesty. Acknowledge the gap between the macro -economic data and the micro-economic reality,” she said.
Lucas said when the leaders bridge that gap with transparent communication, that is when they will begin to rebuild the trust necessary for true, long-term recovery.
“The road ahead requires more than just management, it requires a sophisticated brand of African leadership that is globally minded but locally empathetic.
“We are not just looking for a return to “business as usual.” We are looking to build something more robust, more inclusive, and more enduring,” she said.
Talking about the coming February TEXEM programme, Lucas said the faculty include Prof. Nicholas Cheeseman, Prof. Neal Hartman and Graham Stuart, MP.
Cheeseman is a leading scholar of good governance and accountability and former don at the University of Oxford.
Hartman is a Senior Lecturer in Managerial Communication at the MIT Sloan School of Management. His teaching of management communication and intercultural communication emphasises working in teams, conflict and conflict resolution, leadership, and cross-cultural communication.
Stuart is a British Conservative Party politician and businessman who has served as the Member of Parliament for Beverley and Holderness since 2005.
He previously served in various ministerial positions under Prime Ministers Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak between 2018 and 2024.
The cost of the programmes is, £2,000, with £1,750 discount and £1,500 early bird by January 15.
Designed for the time-pressed executive, the programme blends one hour of focused self-study each day with high-impact live sessions across three Saturdays.
It is gamified to sharpen thinking, accelerate action, and make the experience engaging, inspiring, practical, memorable, and genuinely enjoyable.
For further details on the programme, participants are expected to click on the link:
https://texem.co.uk/leading-through-disruption-strategy-agility-and-influence/
