This is why partnerships with local institutions in Africa are taking on growing significance. Across the continent, a number of business schools have strengthened their academic standards, international alignment and connections to industry. Crucially, they are also deeply embedded in their local economies – engaging with entrepreneurs, corporates, policymakers and investors on a daily basis. This positioning enables them to offer insights that are difficult to replicate elsewhere. For these reasons, cross-continental partnerships are also changing, from those centred largely on student mobility to those that co-design and co-deliver programmes. This approach emphasises mutual learning and shared value creation, provides international students with access to lived business realities and maintains alignment with global academic standards. Co-designed, collaborative learning A useful illustration of this model in practice can be found in Strathmore Business School’s Doing Business in Africa Programme (DBAP). Since its inception in 2013, the DBAP has brought structured interactions with business leaders, entrepreneurs, policymakers and investors to more than 800 MBA students from a wide array of global backgrounds. In so doing, participants have also gained first-hand
Africa’s population is projected to reach 2.5 billion by 2050
Workplace composition: An estimated 740 million people are set to enter workforces across Africa by 2050, driven by growth in countries such as Nigeria, Egypt and the Democratic Republic of Congo. This rate of expansion heralds a fundamental transformation in innovation potential, productivity and economic dynamism. The burgeoning middle class: Today, an estimated 350 million Africans fall within the middle-income
segment – a figure that is expected to exceed 500 million by 2030. Such numbers are fuelled by rising incomes, accelerating urbanisation and widespread digital adoption, redefining how people live, work and consume. Africa’s middle class is also increasingly young, connected and aspirational, driving demand for quality, convenience and innovation at an unprecedented rate.
resources that are critical to global industrial and technological development. The continent contains approximately 30 per cent of the world’s mineral reserves, including around 70 per cent of global cobalt production and more than 40 per cent of the world’s gold reserves. As global demand for these resources accelerates, Africa’s strategic importance in shaping future industries continues to grow, creating a need for thoughtful, sustainable leadership.
Demographic momentum: Currently estimated at approximately 1.5 billion people (of whom around 60 per cent are under the age of 25), Africa’s population is projected to reach 2.5 billion by 2050. By then, more than one in four people globally will be African. AFRICA’S GROWTH STORY: KEY DRIVERS
Natural resources: Africa is home to an abundance of
24 Business Impact • ISSUE 4 • 2026
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