Africa: Business Schools Set Skills Agenda - AllAfrica.com

Mwaura Kimani

Business schools in Africa are expected to play a larger function in promoting economical growing in future by expanding chances for learning good direction practices, the institutions' association have said.

This volition largely be through development of programmes, which are relevant to countries' development and concern agenda, with the position of making alumni globally competitive, said functionaries of the Association of African Business Schools, made up of 17 prima concern schools.

Prof Desiderius Erasmus Kaijage, the president of AABS, said authorities are beginning to trust more than on concern schools and other establishments of higher acquisition as think-tanks inch policy formulation.

However, some of the schools' programs are far from the development schemes being pursued by countries, rendering them less competitive.

To contract this preparation spread and bring forth experts who can force the wheels of growth, one of AABS' docket is Associate in Nursing interchange programme.

"If we are able to turn a highly-skilled human resource base, this encouragements prospects of faster economical growing in our several countries," said Prof Kaijage, who is also the dean, School of Finance and Banking, in Rwanda.

While Africa is said to be lagging behind other parts in concern education, AABS is seeking to raise criteria in the continent by linking schools so they can exchange staff, pupils and thoughts towards the all-important international accreditation.Such an enterprise is expected to hike the 17 schools' onslaught to come in new marketplaces and drama a larger function in economical development.

"Schools must enterprise to offer pupils better insight into the challenges of direction based on the concern environment that they are jump to confront in their workings life," said Republic Of Kenya Commercial Depository Financial Institution CEO, Mister St Martin Oduor-Otieno.

Established in 2005, the association seeks to better the capacity of members to "deliver high quality direction education."

While demand for executive director preparation is booming, informed by planetary tendencies and demand for top-notch skills as competition among companies heightens, local and African concern schools have got got been angling to have their presence felt both locally and internationally.

George Njenga, the Dean of Strathmore Business School, said with expanded economies, concern schools could acquire a stronger feel in the preparation market, taking advantage of expanding income watercourses as companies pass billions of Ugandan shillings to develop staff.

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Strathmore Business School, University of Nairobi's School of Business, Catholic University of Eastern Africa and United States International Universities are the lone Kenyan establishments that have got registered with AABS. For investors, Republic Of Kenya is particularly viewed as strategical because of its alone geographical advantages and well developed concern hub.

During its yearly full general meeting last hebdomad in Nairobi, the association announced programs to acknowledge more than schools. "Business schools and private sector participants must also develop wider golf course to hike accomplishments development, which stay the greatest challenge threatening Africa's growth," said Mister Mugo Kibati, the managing manager of East African Cables, who was the head invitee at the function.

According to AABS, challenges facing African economic systems as they travel to vie with Asia are high costs of telecoms, stiff labor markets, spreads in public-private partnerships, and political uncertainty, among others. Some African concern schools have got been recognised; for example, the University of Cape Town's Master in Business ranked 66th on the Financial Times' 2006 planetary rankings, the lone African school in the top 100.