Author: GK Annan

Businessweek reports on the growing trend of Asian, European, and American business schools establishing campuses on the African continent.

Over the last few decades, Western business schools have increasingly turned their sights on Africa, with dozens of leading schools launching faculty-exchange programs, sending classes on tours of sub-Saharan Africa, and forging partnerships with local schools. Now a handful of European, Asian, and U.S. schools are taking their involvement in the African management education scene a step further, setting up their own campuses, helping the continent’s emerging economies develop executive MBA and other degree programs, and setting up academic research centers. The efforts come at a time when the management education scene in Africa has started to heat up, spurred by a growing middle class that is demanding a more Western-style business school experience, says Guy Pfefferman, chief executive officer of the Global Business School Network, a nonprofit formed by the International Finance Corp. to improve the quality of business education in emerging markets.

via businessweek.com

The Guardian reports that USA-based Wal-Mart , the world’s biggest supermarket, is planning into Africa with a $4.2 billion bid e to buy South Africa’s third-largest retailer MassMart. Massmart has 290 shops, mostly in South Africa, with 24 stores in 12 other African countries including Botswana, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Nigeria and Ghana. It manages eight wholesale and retail chains under various brand names. The group reported sales of $6.1bn last year.

Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, is planning a major move into the fast-expanding African market, announcing today that it is in talks to buy South Africa’s third-largest retailer, Massmart.

The move, which would be worth $4.2bn (£2.65bn), will be overseen by Asda’s chairman, Andy Bond, who is responsible for operations in Africa. Wal-Mart is offering 148 rand (£13.40) a share for Massmart, which is nearly 10% higher than its last closing price.

The acquisition would be Africa’s biggest deal in more than a decade, and Wal-Mart’s largest since it bought the UK supermarket chain Asda in 1999. In May, it agreed to acquire 194 stores in the UK from the Danish discount chain Netto for nearly £800m, although competition regulators are forcing it to sell 25% of the shops.

 

This October, I’ll be attending the 6th Annual World Business Forum, an annual global business summit held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The World Business Forum brings together an incredible lineup of speakers, specifically tailored to provide you with the latest insights on three overarching areas critical to the success of any organization.

Economy – Trends – Change  

Leadership – Performance – People

Strategy – Innovation – Communication

The yearly summit brings together over 5,000 attendees, consisting mostly of senior executives, from over 50 countries to hear the debate and discussions of top political and business leaders as well as renowned intellectuals about the current issues and challenges of the world business environment and global economy.

This year’s speakers include Jim Collins (Good to Great), Jack Welch (GE), Charlene Li (Groundswell), Vijay Govindarajan (Ten Rules for Strategic Innovators), Steve Levitt (Freakonomics), former Vice President Al Gore and others. The two day conference will be held October 5 – 6, 2010. You can register to attend the World Business Forum at the website. Hope to see many of you there.

SYNOPSIS:
“Africa United” is the extraordinary story of three Rwandan kids who walk 3000 miles to the Soccer World Cup in South Africa. Using a sack load of ingenuity and sass (and a World Cup wall chart for a map), our pint-sized protagonists set off through the endless horizons of Africa in pursuit of an unlikely dream. And as they walk they gather a tribe – a ragamuffin team – of broken and brilliant characters who help them negotiate a way through a series of glorious, dangerous, hilarious and often bizarre situations. Through these kids, we will encounter an Africa few people ever get to see; experience the hard reality of an epic walk through seven countries; as well as the joy, laughter and hope – ‘the ubuntu’ – that comes from making an incredible journey together.

PRODUCTION:
Director: Debs Gardner-Paterson
Writer: Rhidian Brook
Studio: Warner Bros Pictures
Cast: Roger Nsengiyumva, Sherrie Silver, Eriya Ndayambaje
Release date: October 22, 2010 (UK)

Mr Geldof, who has long campaigned against poverty in Africa, has been planning to launch the fund for several years but his efforts were delayed by the onset of the financial crisis. He is expected to use his knowledge of African development to source deals for the fund, although sources close to the situation insisted that the venture will be entirely commercial rather than charitable.

Philip Pritchard, a broker with Credit Lyonnais in Asia who is a friend of Mr Geldof, and Simon Hall, a London-based headhunter, are thought to have helped pull the plans together.

The team have already secured backing from the African Development Bank and the International Finance Corporation. Several other investors are set to sign up.

Mr Geldof’s foray into private equity follows in the footsteps of U2’s Bono who co-founded Elevation Partners in 2005.