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African Business Schools and Health Care Management Training: A Strategic Perspective

In recent years the need for leadership and management training has moved to the forefront of discussions about Human Resources in Health in Sub-Saharan Africa. While official and private aid programs continue to place the main emphasis on science, technology and supply chain, it has also become clear that health services delivery and outcomes are highly dependent on the quality of health systems leadership and management. These are the issues addressed in this Executive Summary of a report commissioned by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which was carried out by the Global Business School Network in 2008 and 2009 by national teams in Nigeria, Kenya and Senegal, under the leadership of Jeffrey C. Fine. The report, which is available on request from GBSN, focuses on the management training needs as they are perceived by major stakeholders, and on the contributions which African business schools can make toward meeting these needs.

Goldman Sachs' 10,000 Women Initiative

Since November 2007, GBSN has been working closely with Goldman Sachs and the Goldman Sachs Foundation to develop and implement the 10,000 Women Initiative. GBSN has supported the identification of academic partners globally to participate in 10,000 Women. In addition, GBSN advises the Goldman Sachs Foundation on international best practice in enhancing and supporting business education in developing countries and establishing short-term entrepreneurship education programs.

Thanks to support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, GBSN undertook a Health Leadership and Management Training Survey in three countries (Nigeria, Kenya, and Senegal) in order to provide a solid foundation for designing one or more interventions, drawing on the specific contributions of business schools, which will significantly strengthen health care management in these countries.

Johnson & Johnson approved a grant for an annual fellowship which will enable African management faculty to spend two months at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business and one week at UCLA's Anderson School of Management.

Karachi Education Initiative

GBSN is working with the Karachi Education Initiative, a consortium of Pakistani business leaders, to advise on the establishment of a new premier business school in Karachi, Pakistan.

GBSN has been contracted by the Government of Tanzania to work on the Tanzania Private Sector Competitiveness Project, a World Bank funded initiative. GBSN offers supervision and guidance to the Tanzania Private Sector Foundation and the Business School Linkage Program, which seeks to significantly enhance the capacity of business and management education institutions in Tanzania to ensure a permanently increased supply of quality managers in Tanzania.

Food for Thought

With very few exceptions, MBA programs in sub-Saharan Africa are unable to effectively compete with institutions in the West. As a result, MBA programs cannot attract the best local students or faculty and often lack the leadership prowess necessary to effectively position themselves within the market.

-"Assessment of Graduate Management Education", William Davidson Institute, University of Michigan Business School (2003)