Africa becomes the classroom
April 2010
By Michael Morgan
With emergent markets proving to be the place to be for growth, Africa, like other
regions such as Asia and South America, is now a key market for business.
Africa is one of the world’s regions that will be the focus of attention for many years
to come as global business turns its eyes to the opportunities on the continent. One
of the biggest challenges for business, and this includes South African business, is
that this has created a need for skilled people to venture into the continent’s markets.
But what constitutes a skilled person in this kind of economy? Africa, being an
emergent economy, has high degrees of uncertainty, high degrees of complexity and,
unfortunately, often high degrees of inequality that call for societal responsibility.
Managers operating in African countries may need to adjust their skills set to tackle
these challenges and be successful.
For business schools globally, this poses a challenge – it requires that new research
and expertise is integrated into what they do in order to adequately prepare
managers for the challenges and opportunities they will face on the continent.
But the learning does not necessarily all have to happen in the classroom – a case in
point is the UCT Graduate School of Business which launched a landmark MBA
elective in 2008, called Doing Business in Africa, to give students an in-depth
understanding of doing business on the African continent through both coursework
and an internship. The course has been conceptualised and is convened by Dr Mills
Soko, an Associate Professor at the GSB.
According to Dr Soko, it is one of the first African MBA courses to make Africa the
classroom for students.
“Among those who have done the internship are many South Africans and this is
positive for the country’s pursuit of opportunities to the north. Many businesspeople
in South Africa still have misconceptions about doing business in other African
countries. While South African businesses are very well placed to take a leading role
on the continent, there is growing competition from players like China – growing a
pool of South Africans with African business expertise will hopefully give rise to some
exciting new business models and strategies to compete,” he says.
Both private and public sector organisations have participated in taking interns –
these include Old Mutual, BP, Olam International, Engen, MTN, Vodacom, Mr Price,
Protea Hotels, Shoprite, Tranter Holdings, Investec, Business Unity South Africa
(BUSA) and the Basotho Enterprise Development Corporation. Internships have
taken place in various countries, including Zambia, Lesotho, Botswana, Kenya,
Tanzania, Mozambique, Uganda, Zimbabwe and South Africa.
“During the internship the students are required to study closely a particular company
business function in the market in which the firm operates and are given an
assignment by the company to complete on an aspect of that function,” says Dr
Soko.
At the end of the internship, he adds, the students write a report detailing their
experience and setting out clear and implementable recommendations regarding how
a particular company division’s/function’s strategy or operations can be improved.
“The idea is to give the students an opportunity to make full use of the experience
and broader know-how they have obtained over the course of the MBA.”
Through the internships, Dr Soko says the GSB seeks to achieve a number of goals,
including: harnessing the strength of the GSB’s relationships with firms and assist
host companies by providing them with the opportunity to look at new talent for their
African ventures; addressing a real need for leaders who are knowledgeable about
what it takes to make a success of business on the African continent; growing a pool
of South Africans with African business expertise; and generating exciting new
research, such as case studies, on business activities on the continent.
Bernard Nkomo, Group Executive: Compensation and International HR at Vodacom
Group Limited, says it is vital that African organisations and business schools work
well together in developing managers in Africa.
“There is a global dilemma in that institutions often produce graduates with skills that
are not required by business and this is further impacted when there has not been
practical exposure to understand the application of theory. In addition, Africa is a
developing market and one which is been explored by global companies, which is
likely to increase the opportunities which would ideally be filled by Africans who know
the market and culture,” says Mr Nkomo.
He explains that an internship can play a key role in achieving this practical
exposure.
“A shortcoming of the past is that many learning interventions failed to link theory
with practice and left most learners with the feeling of incompetence and the lack of a
skill when returning to real work environments. An internship reduces the gap
between theoretical learning and practical learning.
“Some of our top leaders are those who have been exposed to different tasks,
projects and environments on the continent. Through the internships, the students
have an opportunity to be mentored and learn from these experienced leaders which
may accelerate their development into future leaders/managers,” he says.
He adds that having the GSB students as interns allowed Vodacom’s employees an
opportunity to share information and transfer knowledge. The report presented at the
conclusion by the students was also useful, he says, as it offered a fresh view on a
strategic Vodacom project.
Catherine Grant, Trade Policy Director at BUSA, the organised voice of business in
South Africa, concurs with Mr Nkomo on the value of internships, adding that for
BUSA, a non-profit organisation, this is the first time they have partnered with a
business school.
“Both our organisation and the GSB students found it extremely valuable – we had
two MBAs join our Zimbabwe partner organisation to look specifically at how
business can play a role in the reconstruction of the Zimbabwean economy. They
found it immensely rewarding to be in an environment like Harare and see the
challenges, gaining exposure to organisations they would have never have
encountered otherwise. At the same time, we benefited from their analytical and
problem-solving abilities – in many ways it was like having a consultancy come in
and make recommendations,” she says.
Grant agrees that greater first hand experience in other African countries can assist
in dispelling misconceptions and lead to a real awakening for managers. “The
opportunities are huge on the continent, but even in South Africa we still have little
understanding as to just what these are – there is nothing more powerful than going
to a place to experience life and business there, and I believe it can transform the
way businesspeople think.”
Neill Baird, Regional Director (Cape) for Protea Hotels, says that the GSB internship
was also the first time the Protea has interacted with a business school in this way.
Protea Hotels is a player in SA and the rest of the continent, and Baird had the
students focus on a particular hotel in Windhoek, Namibia and how best to market it.
“They took a look at the business and environment in a fresh way and developed a
marketing plan that had excellent ideas. It was great to see how interested they were
in learning about a different part of the continent, and they took a lot from the
experience – an internship of this nature I think can reveal new career paths to MBA
students,” says Baird.
The GSB students who have been a part of the internship have similarly voiced their
support for its value.
Lucia Ndlovu says that she wanted to explore and understand the challenges that
corporate business is faced with when operating in Africa.
“I think that it is important for us as Africans to understand these challenges and
opportunities, and see if we can play a role in making it a better place. My internship
was with Tranter Holdings, a company with a focus in resources as well as in
engineering manufacturing and the supply of mining and energy equipment. During
my time with the company I was able to interact with the board of directors, which
allowed me to ask real questions and to get answers straight from the decision
makers. Overall, the internship also allowed students to put the learning from other
MBA courses into practicality,” she says.
Vezi Msibi, who had his internship with Olam International in Tanzania, also had a
desire to better understand the challenges for business on the continent. His
internship involved analysing the potential for a manufacturing business in Dar es
Salaam.
One of the things he learnt from the experience was how Olam has developed a risk
management system which enables them to work in a challenging environment like
Tanzania. “It was invaluable to see how they work with challenges in areas such as
security and transport and make a success of their ventures. Overall, the internship
made me fall more in love with the continent,” he says.
Rob Beighton, who completed an internship with Stanbic Bank Uganda, says it was
the most exciting and stimulating experience on the MBA.
“It not only gave me the opportunity to see how a large multinational corporation
functions in Africa but also the opportunity to use the skills and knowledge acquired
over the preceding months on the MBA. Interacting with senior management in the
Bank on a strategic value adding project was both an excellent learning and
confidence building experience,” says Beighton.
“I think I learnt more about banking and the unique challenges that businesses in
Africa face in the days we were with them than I have over the entire year so far. I
can't wait to get back out there into the continent,” he adds.
Dr Soko says that this positive feedback is giving credence to the UCT GSB as a
business school that prepares students well for success in emergent markets, and
will strengthen it in its endeavour to be the first port of call for expertise in this regard.
“The goal going forward will be expose more students to the African business
environment and good practice so that they can one day become custodians of
Africa,” he says.
Ends