In April 2018 The National Research Foundation (NRF) convened a meeting on Entrepreneurship for Africa’s Sustainable Industrialisation with the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Graduate School of Business (University of Cape Town) the Gordon Institute of Business Science (University of Pretoria) and the Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (United Nations University, Japan).
The two day meeting have allowed the participants (deans from 15 Business Schools in Africa, Corporate executives, Young African Entrepreneurs , and Government representatives,..) to discuss the need and desirability for collective action by business schools in Africa for developing a business education and entrepreneurial ecosystem which responds to the following issues:
- Skills development of young African entrepreneurs who can drive the continent’s sustainable industrialization;
- Coping with societal demands for inclusive growth, with particular emphasis on youth employment;
- Proactively responding to context specific socio-ecological demands, such as environmental considerations and globalization pressures;
- Self-questioning of relevance;
- Developing university driven incubation ecosystems;
- Undertaking curriculum reform; and
- Collaborative approaches with scientists and engineers to stay on top of STI.
Dr Ali Elquammah, Professor and Co-Director of Academic Affairs and International Relations at HEM Group, represented HEM Business School and spoke during a roundtable session about" Engagement with external stakeholders (private sector; funders etc.)”
