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REPORT

Student Workshop: Africa as a 21st Century Business Subject

By Penelope Muzanenhamo PhD

Dublin, November 2016

Report: Student Workshop on Africa as a 21st Century Business Subject

1 Proudly Made in Africa Fellowship in Business and Development at UCD College of Business

Introduction What do African Business students in Ireland think about the teaching and researching of Africa at their universities? A lot indeed, and the subject is of personal concern for most of the students. This report synthesises the group thinking and views that emerged from a student Workshop on Africa as a 21st Century Business Subject, which took place on the 27th of February 2016, and was hosted by UCD College of Business, Belfield Campus. The pioneering Workshop was designed to harness the voice of African students studying at Business Schools in Ireland, in order to inform the direction and implementation of the Proudly Made in Africa (PMIA) Fellowship in Business and Development at UCD College of Business. About 25 students attended the Workshop, and hailed from 8 African countries: Congo DRC, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa and Tanzania; and 5 non-African countries: Brazil, Germany, Ireland, Slovakia and UK. The key issues addressed by the students included the: Significance of incorporating Africa in Business curricula at university level; teaching and research agenda; major challenges in teaching and learning about/researching Africa and how to tackle them; and directions for further developing the subject within Business education acquired across Ireland and potentially beyond. The Workshop was jointly organised by the PMIA Fellowship in Business and Development at UCD College of Business supported by the Fellow’s mentor Dr Maeve Houlihan, and researchers at Dublin City University (DCU), in collaboration with the African Students Association of Ireland. The event was sponsored by Value Added in Africa, UCD College of Business and the African Students Association of Ireland. Many thanks are due to Ms Derry-Anne McEvoy, Mr Killian Stokes (all of UCD College of Business), Dr David Nyaluke (DCU) and Mr Conall O’Caoimh (CEO, Value Added in Africa) for their valuable support with organising and hosting the workshop. Also many thanks to Dr. Megan Zhang who succinctly captured some of the students’ insights reported herein.



Keynote speech Mr Conall O’Caoimh the CEO of Value Added in Africa (VAA) delivered a keynote speech highlighting the importance of innovative strategic partnerships between Irish Business Schools and organisations doing business in, and with Africa. He drew attention to the Proudly Made in Africa Fellowship (PMIA) in Business and Development, as a joint initiative by VAA and UCD College of Business, designed to facilitate the incorporation

of Africa in Business education taught and acquired across Colleges in Ireland.

Mr O’Caoimh underscored that collaborative models like the PMIA Fellowship enable Business Schools and organisations to jointly create and exchange knowledge of relevance to industry, academia and sustainable development. But this generation and exchange of applied knowledge demands committed effort from both partners and their associated stakeholders who include African Business students in Ireland. He noted that the students may have knowledge and experience that potentially support the strategic implementation of teaching and research projects on doing Business in Africa and Sustainable Development.

Mr O’Caoimh went on to comment that there is ample ground for Business Schools and organisations to form dyads and explore, learn from, and support each other in an effort to equip students with the vital skills and intellectual capital for doing sustainable business in Africa. Acknowledging the significance of Africa as a market of more than a billion consumers, Mr O’Caoimh noted that whenever and wherever there is a market, there are key trends and business issues to be observed and addressed. Understanding and interacting with such massive markets at academic level requires partnerships that also accommodate and promote student contribution. In general many Business students create social change, although their role in Sustainable Development may not get as much credit or exposure as it deserves. Many of the students have a very strong appreciation of, and concern for the interconnections between markets and people. They show genuine commitment to the elimination of

Mr Conall O’Caoimh, CEO, VAA Photo Courtesy of GORTA



poverty and injustices globally, and see business as a tool for facilitating socio-economic transformation, Mr O’Caoimh emphasised. In his final remarks, the CEO stressed that the ‘traditional’ marginalisation of Africa from Business curricula has tended to deny students the opportunity to learn about the needs and dynamism of African economies, and act more proactively in line with their social values and desire to eliminate poverty. This is however changing, as demonstrated by UCD College of Business’ strong commitment to integrating Africa in Business education through the PMIA Fellowship, for instance.



The significance of integrating Africa in Business curricula taught at universities across Ireland

According to the students and at the most basic level of analysis, the inclusion of Africa changes the traditional contexts in which, and for which the generation of business theory is concentrated. A transition from the mainstream contexts compels the re-assessment of predominantly Eurocentric theoretical models and best practices. This creates opportunities for students to learn something new, and reveals individuals’ limitations with regards to what they know or believe they know and can do. In general, the uniqueness of the African business terrain challenges students to think outside the box, especially when lecturers candidly address the subject matter. On the level of sense making, incorporating Africa in Business education restructures the discourse on the continent. This is facilitated by a more objective assessment of the continent’s business contexts and potential, as well as an accentuation of its positive dimensions. Consequently, the stereotypes and biases that cripple business and academic interactions between Africa and its global partners challenged. Essentially, engagement with the complexity of the business challenges and opportunities prevalent across Africa, potentially boosts students’ critical thinking. Moreover, the whole exposure and analysis permits students to develop deeper knowledge and better business solutions not just for the African contexts, but also for their local set-ups. Indeed, students acquire substantial business knowledge and experience at European schools, but they benefit more from combining that intellectual capital with insights on Africa. In this manner, Africa adds value to the business field, and therein lies the pride of many business students of African origin in particular.

Students attending the Workshop



Key business themes: What is being taught and researched, why and how? What should be taught and researched, why and how?

The currently available portfolio of African subjects is still very small. Also, apart from UCD College of Business, no other School in Ireland seems to offer any Business module specifically on Africa at the moment., The subject of Africa is occasionally taught within modules on (Social) Entrepreneurship, Trade and/or Fairtrade, Supply Chain Management and International Business, with a tendency to focus on concepts such as the Bottom of the Pyramid. Most of the learning materials often create the impression that they are designed to ‘simply’ promote an awareness of the business opportunities in Africa. Also, in some cases, in-class discussions can be quite superficial, as they may evade contentious issues, and appear not to challenge students to reflect on the subject matter beyond the classroom. But more recently, there has been a shift due to a broadened focus for example by UCD College of Business, Value Added in Africa and the PMIA Fellowship. Some fresh insights and exciting issues are starting to be featured in class, which challenge students to critically reflect on the factors’ impact on business performance and societal welfare. Students are also presented with illustrative cases on how Multinational Corporations (MNCs) tackle tricky and complex macro environmental factors in Africa. Furthermore, the lecturers involved in teaching about Africa more in-depth also address the linkages between coping strategies adopted by MNCs, and consumer reactions in the most developed markets. Such an ‘holistic’ way of teaching about Africa is vital, as it shows both the continent’s impact beyond its borders and the interdependence between developed and developing markets.

Changing African Business Environments



Ideally, students would further benefit from learning more about other business subjects such as Ethics, Human Resources Management, Finance, Accounting, International Strategy and Marketing in Africa. Also, published research and case studies are deemed crucial for deeper analysis and comprehension of Africa from a Business perspective. In general, students evince a strong desire to understand contextual differences and overlaps between Africa and Europe. Therefore, African business students particularly urge their Irish (and Western) universities to work towards developing a more solid knowledge base through joint collaboration with African Business Schools and scholars, practitioners and other academic institutions.

Key challenges and how to tackle them

The several challenges identified by the students are linked to the issue of ‘shortages’. Students believe that there is lack of: teaching and learning resources; exposure to the

actual African Business environments; student and lecturer motivation to engage with the subject; lecturer confidence in the subject; subject’s clear value proposition and revenue generation potential for most of the European students, Business Schools and other parties. Firstly, both the lack of teaching and learning resources, and experience with African business environments leads to partial understandings of the subject. Hence, many European based Business scholars and lecturers may be reluctant to teach about Africa, or they may not consider seriously integrating content on the subject in their teaching – as they seek to avoid promoting half-baked theories or misrepresenting issues.

Facilitating lecturer engagement with Africa will take time and commitment by Universities, but projects could be implemented to allow lecturers to become exposed to, or immersed in African Business contexts. Such exposure potentially lends itself as an incentive for lecturers to teach and research the subject more deeply and with increased confidence.

Mr Killian Stokes (UCD) addressing the students



The combination of immersion in African environments, and joint sense making of African Business issues by Africans and non-African scholars has the potential to reduce the gap between assumptions and real African experiences. Collaboration may also identify the subject’s unique selling points particularly from the perspective of lecturers and students in Europe. Secondly, similar to many others across the World, European Business students are often interested in getting a job before or immediately right after graduation. However, there seems to be no direct link between Africa and the job market here in Ireland (and Europe), which again may reduce the attractiveness of the subject. Industrial and market relevance is pivotal in signalling the value of the subject of Africa, and will be key to stimulating student and lecturer interest. Thirdly, for most Business Schools teaching about Africa is still peripheral to their strategy. This is in part due to an apparent lack of clear Value Proposition. The subject of Africa seems to have relatively less revenue generating capacity as compared to other popular subjects such as Accounting and Finance. These subjects appeal to more students, and allow universities to earn revenue through tuition fees.

Most of these problems to do with value perception and lack of lecturer confidence or motivation could be tackled through the promotion of strategic partnerships between: African and European lecturers/scholars; African and European universities; MNCs operating in Africa/African businesses and European Universities; and European and African students. Lastly but not least, some African students in particular may experience an element of conflict between what is taught and their desire to represent Africa positively. Certain issues raised in class may appear to reinforce particular

Students attending the Workshop

Dr. David Nyaluke (DCU ) addressing the students



stereotypes about the continent, which may inadvertently reflect on the African students themselves. However, the students acknowledge the need to remain realistic and focused on finding solutions to the problems instead of giving more weight to merely the good. Critical and ‘objective’ scholarship and teaching is indispensable if the subject of Africa is to be taken seriously within Business education in Ireland and beyond.

Future Directions

Africa is still far from the European level of competitiveness, and the development of the subject across Irish universities will depend on committed investments by the Schools and personal interests among students, lecturers and researchers. At university level, collaboration with African partners and initiating as well as supporting academic projects on Africa will shape the trajectory of the subject further. At personal levels of contribution, African students in particular face the task of actively participating in creating the change they desire to see. One way of achieving that is by finding stories to tell the World in a systematic and authentic way. Dissertations, theses and other research projects are all different arts of stories. But the stories ought to show the World something relevant and exemplary such as the power of education in creating socially responsible Business practitioners and entrepreneurs, and the role of Business both theoretically and practically in facilitating Sustainable Development across Africa. Research ought not to be confined to African students only. Generally, there should be an invitation and encouragement to Business students regardless of their demographic

background, to conduct research on Africa and Sustainable Development. According to the PMIA Fellow, it is often personal stories that drive individuals’ engagement with the subject of Africa: “I grew up in a small village in a remote area in Zimbabwe. Whenever I visited the city or met folks from the capital, they would make jokes and call me the girl from the village. But then when I moved to Austria, I realised that I was neither a girl from the village nor from Zimbabwe: I was simply African.

Dr. Penelope Muzanenhamo, PMIA Fellow in Business and Development at UCD College of Business



People called me the African girl, and there was no distinction between Zimbabwean, Angolan and Nigerian. We were all African. I also realised that there was something called ‘brand Africa’, which seemed intertwined with the idea of who I was. This experience stimulated a strong desire in me to understand the meaning of Africa and African. I then came across the paradigm of Social Construction, which taught me that all meanings ascribed to phenomena are products of social negotiation, and there are no universal truths. The more I explored the literature on social construction, branding and organisational studies, the more determined I became to explore the multidimensionality of Africa from a business perspective. This culminated into a PhD thesis on brand Africa and Sustainable Development, and further professional development” Penelope shared with the students attending the workshop.

Conclusion

African business students in Ireland (and possibly beyond) rarely get the opportunity to have their voices heard. According to the students, the Workshop ‘Africa as a 21st Century Business Subject’ was the first ever event that convened the students with the goal to listen to their voice and feed it into the implementation of an initiative such as the PMIA Fellowship. The students expressed a lot of gratitude for this valuable opportunity. They also showed a strong interest in a follow-up workshop in early 2017. One of the workshop’s goals would be to establish how the students themselves can participate more effectively in facilitating the incorporation of the broad theme of Business in Africa and Sustainable Development in university education and research across Ireland.

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