(May 14, 2010 Washington, DC) In April, the Global Business School Network (GBSN) successfully brought together deans and senior faculty from 14 business schools and universities in Africa, along with leaders and stakeholders from the health and agribusiness sectors to discuss delivery of quality sector specific programs.
«Agriculture and health are two of the most important sectors for Africa», explains Guy Pfeffermann, CEO of GBSN. «Agriculture and agribusiness employ the vast majority of African people and massive amounts of resources are poured into the health sector across the continent, so even small gains in efficiency can have a massive impact.»
The 3 day event, Partnerships for Progress: Workshop for Collaborative Frameworks in Health Management & Agribusiness, was held at Strathmore Business School in Nairobi, Kenya from April 21-23, 2010. Following three days of discussions, the participants in the respective sector groups committed to forming two consortia which will seek to aggregate and share information, identify best practices, and encourage the development and delivery of new programs.
In Agribusiness, participating representatives had vast levels of experience, running programs on everything from small-scale and subsistence-level farming operations to large-scale, export-oriented agricultural enterprises. After agreeing on a conceptual frame in which to understand the issues, the group developed a set of actionable outcomes. They were unanimous in their commitment to formulate the African Agribusiness Schools’ Consortium, which will be a continent-wide network of business and agribusiness schools. The consortia will include regional coordinating institutions in east, west and southern Africa and will focus on bringing together likeminded agribusiness schools committed to transforming agricultural activities into legitimate and viable businesses in the Agribusiness Value Chain.
In the Health Management focus group, there was a wide array of perspectives presented and the experiences of participants varied greatly, but those present were united in their belief that the current system of health care delivery suffered due to a lack of highly qualified managers and leaders. Based on the issues discussed and the areas of collaboration identified, a proposal was made to promote South-South through an executive level, pan-African hospital management course to be offered in three modules, one each in South Africa, East Africa, and West Africa. Through this program, and the central coordinating body, materials would be developed, competencies would be identified, faculty catalogued, and information made widely accessible to all business schools interested in delivering similar programs.
«We are extremely pleased with the outcome of the workshop.» says Nora Brown, COO of GBSN, «GBSN believes strongly that business schools are a key ingredient in improving health delivery and agribusiness performance, and we feel a consortium approach will be the most efficient and effective method of developing and scaling new interventions. We are thrilled that participants validated our assumptions and look forward to working with these new consortia in promoting stronger management and leadership in theses sectors. »
GBSN is an international non-profit organization located in Washington DC dedicated to creating the next generation of leaders in low-income countries by raising the quality and accessibility of business management education.
