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A position paper on the crucial nature of the human factor ingredient in development education in Africa. ; The relatively slow pace of the economic development process in Africa, compared to other developing regions of the world has generated immense interest in diagnosing causes from different perspectives and ideological studies. These could be classified into three broad groups, namely the conservative, liberal and radical (Ofori-Amoah, 1995). A new perspective has emerged in the past few years. This is called the Human Factor (HF) perspective (sec Adjibolosoo 1993, 1994, 1995a, 1995b 1996). The HF perspective argues that the primary reason for the failure of economic development processes in most African countries is lack of appropriate HF, where HF is defined as the 'spectrum of personality characteristics and other human dimensions which allow political, economic and social institutions to function effectively and continue to do so over time' (Adjibolosoo 1994:26). ; International Institute Of Human Factor Development.

Empowerment of employees has been a primary concern of business for many decades, under thepremise that involvement of employees in decision making leads to superior performance and results.Acceptance of the practical value of empowerment by colleges and universities is more recent andmore rare, despite the centrality of ideas such as faculty governance and recognition of the faculty'sessential role in the academic enterprise. Empowerment in academe is defined as the processwhereby stakeholders are encouraged and supported in utilizing their knowledge, skills, and creativityto embrace ownership and accountability for the well being of their department and institution. Theprocess requires stakeholders to collaborate in order to establish clear goals and expectationsfocused on the institution's vision and mission but within agreed-upon boundaries. This alignment ofdepartmental and institutional goals is a key ingredient of empowerment, one that Black (1987) calls"enacting the vision" in organizations.