The Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) has, in partnership with the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) and the Gauteng provincial government, launched a public–private partnership to improve leadership.

The partnership, in the form of a training programme, was aimed at improving the corporate affairs and strategic stakeholder engagement functions of public and private sector entities.

The Strategic Leadership for Corporate Affairs Executives course, which would run from this month to May 2016, was aimed at building the strategic skills needed to influence and interpret the macroeconomic and policy environments.

The course, which comprised four modules and an impact demonstration, would be open to participants who were considered high-potential talent within their organisation. Invitations had been sent out to top private and public sector organisations to nominate their future leaders.

Speaking at the launch of the programme on Thursday, Gauteng Premier David Makhura said learning was an important aspect of leadership. “As the provincial government, we are delighted to be a partner in this groundbreaking initiative, which proves once more that working together as private sector and government, we can achieve much better quality leadership that is dire to our nation,” he added.

He further called on those with “significant investment reserves” to keep investing in South Africa and particularly in Gauteng.