Butterfly Coalition Blog

Dear Abi,

Help! I have joined a board whose Chair and CEO seemed to support good governance and have effective governance policies and procedures, but I have discovered they are engaged in illegal price fixing with a competitor. What should I do?

I am a newly appointed non-executive director...

Dear Abi,

Help! I am a professional service provider. I suspect team members in the HR Directorate in a client firm are sharing my proposal ideas and getting kickbacks from “friendly” firms. What should I do?

I am self-employed and run a management consultancy practice. I have worked...

Dear Abi, 

Help! I have mounting financial pressure due to quality defects and I don’t know if my employees are incompetent or defrauding me. 

I run a small start-up. The production team is making mistakes that lead to quality issues and rework. I have progressively trained them,...

Dear Abi,

Help! My new CEO wants me to ignore due processes for which I am accountable and has threatened me. What should I do?

I am an executive director responsible for the Supply Chain - Contracts & Procurement of a small company which has been reasonably successful and has had good...

When we hear mention of governance in Africa, our minds often think of governance in relation to societies. Certainly, building effective and legitimate institutions in Africa is critical to restore core government functions and generate equitable service delivery. Sadly, the corruption, conflict...

Nearly thirty years ago, I cycled 14,500 kilometres through 17 African countries over 18 months, adventures I wrote about in my book Esprit de Battuta. Yes, I know it was mad, but it brought adventures and encounters that changed my life. Throughout my solo ride, I observed the hard,...

“I just want to see how we can move things forward – because I don’t think anything should be this hard.”[1]

The voice saying this to me was young, a woman in her twenties, not an age at which one expects to hear so much clear exasperation and exhaustion. What had happened...

“Governance is not the icing on the cake; it is the cake.”[1]

A Nigerian business thought leader said this to me recently and I loved her comment! It resonated with my experience of running small for profit and social enterprises in Nigeria and consulting to larger companies there...