As Africa goes through a population boom, the demand for higher education – especially business education – has skyrocketed. Yet some of Africa’s poorest countries have severe constraints in meeting that demand. Enter Ivey’s 39 Country Initiative, which strives to empower African business schools.
For the past decade, the initiative led by Ivey’s International Business Institute (IBI) has supported the world’s poorest countries – the majority in Africa – by providing valuable teaching materials and resources. Its latest efforts included two case-teaching workshops in Africa in December 2019.
With support from MMD Steel, a steel manufacturing company headquartered in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, the IBI introduced 76 African faculty members to the case teaching method. The IBI collaborated with BEM Dakar in Senegal and l'Institut Universitaire d'Abidjan in Ivory Coast to deliver the project. Participants came from business schools in Senegal, Ivory Coast, Rwanda, Botswana, and South Africa.
Case teaching enhances learning
Elie Chrysostome, Professor of International Business and Strategic Management at SUNY Plattsburgh, led the workshops and said the sessions were well-received.
“The participants' positive comments are an indication that they now have the confidence to use cases in their classrooms,” he said. “This outcome will boost the pedagogical skills at business schools across Africa and enhance the critical and creative thinking of their students.”
To date, the 39 Country Initiative has registered more than 2,000 professors for free access to Ivey cases, organized four French-language case teaching workshops, and shipped more than 60 tons of teaching materials.