Ecobank Academy has joined the Global Business School Network (GBSN) to pursue a shared vision for Africa to have the talent it needs to enhance its developmental potential and generate prosperity.
The two organisations aim to work together over the long term to build a stronger connection between businesses and business schools and develop the talent to achieve the best for Africa.
Announcing the partnership in Washington, D.C., GBSN said it was excited to welcome the Togo-based Ecobank Academy, the Corporate University of Ecobank Group, as its first corporate member.
GBSN, on the other hand has been building management education capacity in and for the developing world for over 17 years. The core of the network spans 6 continents with more than 100 leading business schools from 50 countries, whose leaders, faculty, and students engage in programmes to improve access to quality, locally relevant management and entrepreneurship education.
Speaking on joining GBSN, Simon Rey, Group Head of Ecobank Academy, Talent and Organizational Development said: “It is a privilege to be the first corporate university to join GBSN. We believe practical and just-in-time education are crucial to help solve some of the most pressing challenges and, at the same time, unlock tremendous opportunities to advance the social-economic agenda. We are looking forward to collaborating with other members and to together bring world-class capabilities to create and implement solution-driven programs impacting African SMEs, MSMEs, Public Sector, Development organizations, Youth, and other professionals.”
This vision for the partnership began to take shape last November when Simon Rey delivered a keynote at the GBSN Annual Conference in Lisbon. He pointed out then, that Africa had only 740 universities for more than one billion people while, by way of comparison, the United States had about 5,300 universities and colleges serving a population of 323 million people. He led a conversation amongst the 170 participants from 148 institutions across 46 countries and the dialogue exposed many of the challenges and opportunities of educating and developing talent for Africa.
The consensus was that no single sector – business, government, education, or non-profit – could make meaningful progress alone, especially in such an incredibly diverse, fast growing, and dynamic environment as Africa. The session noted that the widening gap between higher education and business was an obstacle to building the future that Africa needed and the gap between education and practice held the greatest potential for innovative solutions.
The addition of Ecobank Academy to the Global Business School Network is a first step towards closing the gap. By strengthening collaboration between business and academia, the belief is that the joint efforts will result in more relevant and scalable educational programs for young people, innovative initiatives for upskilling and reskilling over a lifetime, and collective efforts to build more inclusive and sustainable business across Africa. The aim is to build alliances where structured designs can fill needed capabilities, to address opportunities such as financial inclusion, health, renewable energy, health, nutrition and innovation.
One of the ways both Ecobank Academy and GBSN intend to work together is by building a virtual forum to explore the changing talent needs of the continent. The series is focused on the future that Africa wants, and the power of its people to achieve it. It highlights the importance of leadership, management and entrepreneurship across sectors and across the continent. The aims are to explore the challenges associated with building education and development capacity and aligning it with the needs of a rapidly changing continent. The conversations in the forum will reveal new opportunities for innovation and collaboration, especially across business and business schools.
While the sessions are about building the capabilities of Africans, the series is intentionally global in three ways. First, Africa invites the leaders from all over the world to participate meaningfully in its development by co-creating solutions. Second, since Africa plays a pivotal role in the future of the global society and the planet – economically and politically – part of the work together is to assist Africa to assert its rightful place in the world. Third, Africa is an inspiration and catalyst for innovation and change around the world and the rest of the world can learn from what Africa does.
Speaking on the new partnership, GBSN CEO Dan LeClair said “the aim is to work together over the long term to build a stronger connection between business and business schools, to develop the talent for Africa to achieve what it wants. The space between education and practice holds the greatest potential for innovative solutions.”
LeClair continued: “We are proud to take this first bold step and excited about working together. We invite business schools and companies, especially their learning and development units, to join us in the Global Business School Network. We will gain strength through greater diversity and connectivity, as well as size and significantly increase our impact on the future of Africa and other developing areas”.
The Global Business School Network is a non-profit organization that partners business schools, industry, foundations and aid agencies to improve access to quality, locally relevant management and entrepreneurship education for the developing world. With a growing network of over 100 leading business schools on 6 continents, it fosters cross-border networking, knowledge sharing and collaboration both within the network membership and with the broader business education and development communities.
Epa Ogie Eboigbe, veteran journalist, broadcaster and public affairs specialist writes on, and analyses current and historical issues with a ‘wise pen’.
