University of Botswana Set To Receive US$115,000 grant To Develop Business Education Programmes in Africa

 The University of Botswana Faculty of Business will receive a $115,000 grant to develop graduate and executive business programmes from the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) Management Education for Tomorrow (MET) Fund. Ben Glover, regional director for GMAC Europe, the Middle East and Africa, will present the grant to Thabo T. Fako, vice chancellor of the University of Botswana,  on Thursday, November 22, at Cresta Lodge Gaborone.

The University of Botswana is one of just 12 recipients worldwide of grants funding innovation in business education in the Ideas to Innovation (i2i) Challenge, a two-part program that identified innovative ideas to improve management education and is now providing more than $7.1 million in grants to implement the ideas.

The Graduate Management Admission Council  is a nonprofit education organization of leading graduate business schools and owner of the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT exam), used by more than 5,600 graduate business and management programs worldwide. GMAC is based in Reston, Virginia, and has regional offices in London, New Delhi and Hong Kong.  

The MET Fund is the philanthropic effort of the Graduate Management Admission Council, the worldwide association of leading business schools that administers the GMAT exam used in admissions.

"Through the MET Fund's i2i Challenge, GMAC is investing in -- and giving back to -- management education and the institutions where it is taught. We are working with schools to innovate and, through innovation, to foster new ways to develop the next generation of business leaders. We're proud to be able to partner with the University of Botswana in these efforts," Glover said.

The University of Botswana grant, which runs through March 2014, will be used to develop curriculum for graduate management education and executive development programmes in areas that are critical to the needs of students, educators, and businesses in both Botswana and throughout Africa.

"The programme will support the continuous and long-term training of the local workforce and will also help develop local teaching materials, business cases and simulations for business and management university coursework throughout Africa," says Professor C.R. Sathyamoorthi, dean of the Faculty of Business (currently acting deputy vice chancellor, Academic Affairs) at the University of Botswana.

"Political, economic, and educational leaders around the world recognise that emerging economies need skilled managers. GMAC is doing its part to support the growth of management talent in Africa while ensuring that prospective graduate management students are prepared and qualified to enroll in quality programmes," said Ron Sibert, GMAC Africa business development director.

The University of Botswana grant is one of two i2i Challenge winners developing programmes in Africa. The Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore - ALTIS in Milan, Italy, in partnership with Tanzaga College of the Catholic University of East Africa, received a grant to offer the first executive MBA in social entrepreneurship in Africa. The executive MBA programme will foster collaboration amongst business schools in Nairobi, Kenya, Loyola Institute of Business Administration in Chennai, India, and Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, California.

"The University of Botswana is proud to be a part of this initiative that will benefit the rest of Africa, in particular Southern Africa," Sathyamoorthi said. The University of Botswana (UB) is a leading center of academic excellence in Africa and the world and has a student population of 15,000.