Prime Minister Pierre Damien Habumuremyi has urged African leaders to be innovative and provide pragmatic solutions in their leadership roles.Speaking at the opening of the ongoing 35th Annual Roundtable Conference of the African Association of Public Administration and Management (AAPAM) in Kigali, yesterday, Habumuremyi said Africa is perceived as a haven for nepotism, corruption and poor leadership.He said this can be reversed if the current leadership meets citizens’ demands, reduce poverty, promote good governance and economic development."It is high time that Africa overcomes the negative image of leadership and embrace quality leadership for efficient and quality management of public services,” the premier said.He added: "Leaders should be innovative, examplary and provide pragmatic solutions that best suits people’s views. It is up to leaders to find new options, strategy and tools that can be used to meet demands of citizens.”The conference is organised under the theme, "Quality Leadership for Efficient and Effective Management of Public Service in Africa.”It drew more than 650 participants from around the world, including 32 African countries.Participants will discuss how to transform the efficiency and effectiveness of African leadership.Essential leadershipThe president of AAPAM, Abdu Agaw Jok Nhial, said leadership is an essential part of any society and the success of any society depends on the quality of its leadership."Leadership is always an issue in any organisation; it can have all the resources it can wish to have, it can have all the personnel that are needed to run that organisation but its success will depend on the quality of the leadership. It is an important aspect for any organisation,” he said.He added that leaders must have moral integrity to maintain their credibility in terms of governance.The Minister for Public Service and Labour, Anastase Murekezi, said participants at the five-day conference will explore all possible approaches to attain sustainable livelihood of African citizens through the commitment of public service leadership.To be discussed, he said, is the role of leaders in Africa, monitoring good governance in government agencies, and monitoring of public servants."We will have a collective analysis of the role of researchers and what they have reached on in the monitoring of public servants in Africa, and the role of good governance of workers in Africa’s development,” Murekezi said."We will have a collective study on what young professional leaders expect from their elders in government agencies. Participants will share the strategies used to reach the level of development they are on,” he added.