BGA | BUSINESS IMPACT
approaches. Executive education gives these senior leaders an opportunity to be exposed to new, cutting-edge research and approaches for managing these tricky issues. UCT GSB is on a mission to be the best in Africa, but also the best for Africa. What does this mean in real terms and what’s your strategy to reach this goal? My vision for the UCT GSB is for the School to tell the real story of African business across the continent and across the world. One of the reasons I’m so excited to tell this story is that I see tremendously innovative things – in places ranging from high finance to informal markets – every day. I love being in a place that really feels like things are getting more exciting every day. The rewards are enormous, not just in monetary terms (though there is a lot of money to be made here), but also in terms of impact. I think that’s also why MBAs tend to be so excited about Africa – they really understand the opportunities they have to make an impact here. The other reason that understanding business in Africa is so exciting is that it really does feel like looking into the future. Africa’s population is growing – and it is filled with energetic, creative young people – even as populations in other regions of the world are shrinking. People on the continent use technology in really innovative ways, lean and sustainable business models are a fact of life, there is a growing (and comparatively brand-loyal) middle class, and business leaders have to be ready for anything. What’s really exciting to me is that the UCT GSB has the convening power and research muscle to tell this story. We can be the institution that asks the hardest questions and has the most relevant discussions, and that brings research, teaching, cases, and students together from across the continent and around the world. Do you feel optimistic about the future of business, Business Schools, and the economy? Yes, I do. One thing about working on a continent where there is, and has been, so much hardship is that there is often also a lot of optimism that the future will be better. Not always and not everywhere, of course, but much more than I see in the west. Across so much of the US and Europe, people seem to feel, right now, as though the best years have come and gone. Populations are ageing, new uncertainties and risks feel like they are popping up every day, and I think a lot of people can’t imagine what a better future might look like, or how we might get there. It feels a bit cataclysmic. Whereas in Africa, it is easy to imagine how things might get better, in both small and large ways, and people have learned how to manage risk and uncertainty. So, there’s often a kind of confidence about it. Yes, things are bad now, but we’ve got through bad things before and we’ll get through them again. Again, that is not always the case, but that sense of optimism – and the ability to laugh in the face
‘There is an energy and an optimism on the continent, much of it driven by a very young, very innovative population, that I don’t feel anywhere else in the world’
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of challenge – is one of my favourite things about the continent, and one of my greatest lessons from it. How do we imagine and create a better future? That is where business, Business Schools, and business students come in. We’re talking about how to develop many more of the leaders Africa – and the world – needs. What really sets rising leaders apart are things like: a broad perspective; critical thinking; an ability to work in, manage, and inspire excellence from diverse teams; a capacity to analyse challenges and find innovative solutions; and an ability to communicate effectively in different contexts. All of those things require judgement, empathy, an awareness of situations, and the tools to be effective in a number of environments. I think we move forward by incorporating the innovation, resilience, flexibility, and adaptability that comes from living and working in Africa and other parts of the developing world. And the idea of generations of MBAs and business leaders who have really internalised these differing approaches and can use them to think holistically about leadership, sustainability, and the impact that they can have on business and society, fills me with optimism and hope.
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