Where ambition meets scale – an African future
13 December 2024
Ian Hawkings reflects on the advance of business education in Africa and the potential of the continent.
Morocco is a complicated country. It is African, but it is also Arabic. 40% of the population are Berber, and the country’s official languages are ‘modern standard Arabic’, and ‘standard Moroccan Berber’. Until 1952, it was a French protectorate, and so a large part of the country speak French as well, a lingua franca. Spanish is also spoken, although less now than in the past.
This I all found out at the recent Association of African Business Schools Deans and Directors meeting, held at ESSEC Africa’s campus in the capital city, Rabat.
The last time I was at this event, two years ago in the Canary Islands, there were roughly 40 delegates – this time the number had more than doubled, a testament to the strides made by the AABS in recent years. Years where membership has soared, relationships beyond Africa have blossomed, and the first African business school accreditation was launched.
Despite this ever-expanding reach, a common thread from the previous event to this one is the strong feeling of community and a shared sense of momentum. With a rapidly growing and youthful population, the education of globally-minded, ambitious, and responsible businesspeople in Africa is an important concern for the planet.
On the final morning of the event, I presented some data from our most recent Future of Lifelong and Executive Education study and focused on the responses we received from African learners and employers.
In all honesty, the African sample looks a lot like that from the rest of the world. Students in Africa are generally more interested in being entrepreneurs, but aside from that the message is fairly consistent with the mean: learners want flexibility to be built into their studies, they expect technology to play a large part in how learning is delivered, and they are very concerned with ROI and career outcomes.
Employers are increasingly using online learning providers, more readily recognise digital badges and micro-credentials than in the past, and a good chunk still think business schools are too expensive.
The American Essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson said ‘make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you’ - the AABS is on a mission to make the most of African business education, and students in Africa know that if they do, the future is theirs.
Footnote:
In the 1300s Moroccan explorer Ibn Battuta travelled from Tangier to India – a bold endeavor two hundred years before Vasco de Gama landed on the subcontinent. And although not quite as daring, an interesting decision entirely in keeping with the spirit of the AABS has been made to retrace those steps, as the next Dean’s meeting will convene at Woxen University in Hyderabad.
As the old African proverb says ‘if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.’ Could it be that AABS is attempting both?