About AABS
An idea was borne by forward-thinking individuals, of an organization that would support African Business Schools through capacity building, collaboration, and quality improvement programmes of deans, directors, and faculty, became a reality when the Association of African Business Schools (AABS) was formally established in October 2005 and registered as a non-profit organization in September 2007.
In keeping with the basic tenets of support, collaboration, and development, quality programs such as the Research Excellence workshop, the Case Teaming and Writing workshop, and the Teaching the Practice of Management workshop were developed and offered to members. Also, an annual conference for business schools and business leaders, AABS Connect, was offered, and this continues to bring in participants from Africa and further afield. This conference gives thought leaders in management education across the world an opportunity to gather and share thoughts and experiences, as well as express their views on African business education and related matters.
AABS has evolved over the years, and in 2018 it started on a historic journey with the launch of AABS Accreditation, the first-ever African Accreditation for African business schools. This accreditation is based on values relative to the African continent and promises to bring African business schools to the forefront of management education.
Our Vision
To be the leading network of quality business education in Africa focusing on relevance, impact, and sustainability.
Our Mission
To promote continuous improvement in quality learning and research across African business schools, through capacity-building activities, networking opportunities, and accreditation.
Values
Integrity, Inclusiveness, Collaboration, Responsibility, Excellence.
chairman's message
By 2050 Africa will have 25% of the world’s workforce. According to the Brookings Institute, by 2100, 13 of the world’s 20 biggest urban areas will be African — up from just two today — and will house more than a third of the world’s population.
Two critical determinants will influence whether this is a future of hope and prosperity or not. The first is the extent, quality and relevance of education provided to Africans and the second is the extent to which African collaboration and trade can grow and be effective.
The engine of prosperity is business. Good businesses, driven by capable, confident, and proactive people, that provide value to other businesses and society – to build opportunity and grow economies. Here the role of a skilled and dynamic African business education sector is central.
Never before have African business schools had a greater opportunity or been more needed. Africa is full of capable people, though too many are under-educated, excluded or trapped in poverty. Business schools urgently need to work together to make sure that the majority of Africans are skilled and meaningfully included in work because unless they rise, African economies will not rise.
To meet this enormous challenge, African business schools must collaborate to raise the capability and standards of all. We must commit to more than building our own institutions and commit to being the institutions that collectively build Africa. It can be done. While individual schools can – and should – be worthy and respected rivals to each other, the logic, reach and power of African collaboration to build the reputation and credibility of the sector as a whole outweighs competition.
The Association of Africa Business Schools (AABS) is a rapidly growing association of more than 55 business schools that has made big strides in building the image of African business schools worldwide. It does this not just through its unique accreditation programme, which is rapidly gaining traction, but also by assertively sharing the stories of the achievements of African schools and by preparing them to achieve further international accreditation.
At this critical time – as the African Continental Free Trade Area opens for business and the pandemic looks to be in retreat – AABS will continue to lead in building performance, growth and improvement in Africa’s business schools. We are committed to an agenda to protect the world we live in and its nature, environment and climate, and to promoting and assisting increased female representation at senior levels in our business schools. Already the AABS board constitution has been changed to require at least 40% women board membership over the coming three years.
More broadly, we want to encourage the sector to think bigger and to carve out a more extensive role and reputation for itself in social and economic spheres, understanding the extraordinary contribution we can, and must, make in building the people and organisations that will grow prosperity and good business on this continent.
As the incoming chairperson of AABS I am deeply aware of the duty of service it brings. I also salute the dedicated work done up to now by the AABS team, board and previous chairs. I commit to driving AABS’s ideals and aspirations and to accepting the honour and challenge of serving the member schools as they take on ever-more ambitious visions and projects to build stronger African economies through the quality of the learning, research and leadership they provide.
It’s time for African business schools to deliver with authority and energy on Africa’s progress; with Africans, for Africans, with increasing confidence in ourselves, based on ever-improving standards and commitment to Africa’s future. If you haven’t already joined us, we invite you to be part of this journey.
aabs governing board
Professor Olayinka David-West is an esteemed academic and thought leader renowned for her expertise in the intersection of business management and technology. With an illustrious career spanning several decades in IT and financial services, she has made significant contributions to academia, research, and the advancement of business practices through her insightful analyses and strategic thinking. Professor David-West, the Associate Dean at the Lagos Business School, is a passionate advocate of digital transformation and inclusive finance. She has held critical positions at prestigious institutions. At LBS, she has served as a faculty member, academic director, and accreditation lead, propelling the school to attain international accreditations and global rankings. Her research and practice engagements focus on the transformative impact of technology on business models, strategy, and organisational dynamics alongside policy interventions toward digitally transformed businesses and society.
Professor David-West's thought leadership is exemplified by her numerous publications in renowned journals and frequent contributions to conferences and seminars. Her work has significantly influenced the discourse surrounding inclusive finance, digital transformation, innovation adoption, and technology-driven disruption in various industries. She is often sought after as a keynote speaker, panellist, and consultant by organisations looking to navigate the complexities of modern business environments. Since 2015, she has led the Sustainable and Inclusive Digital Financial Services (SIDFS) initiative, a research and advocacy initiative dedicated to enhancing financial inclusion in Nigeria. Under her leadership, SIDFS has become the leading capacity-building platform for operators and regulators within the financial service ecosystem. She maintains strong connections with industry practitioners and policymakers. Her collaborations with businesses, startups, and governmental bodies have led to pragmatic solutions that bridge the gap between theory and practice. Her advisory roles have enabled organisations to navigate disruptions and embrace technological innovation with a strategic outlook.
Professor David-West's contributions have been recognised with numerous awards and accolades, highlighting her impact on academia and the business community. Her ability to translate complex concepts into actionable insights has garnered respect and admiration from peers, professionals, and students. Professor David-West holds advanced business administration and technology management qualifications from renowned institutions. Her academic journey has been marked by a commitment to continuous learning and a passion for exploring the ever-evolving dynamics of business and technology. She has expert certifications in financial inclusion policy and digital money, is a governing council member of the Fintech Association of Nigeria, and is a member of the African Women in Finance and Payments. She is a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT (CGEIT), and an academic advocate for the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA). She is also a qualified Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA) practitioner.
After his legal studies in the UK, Kevin spent the next 10 years in the fields of law, banking and investments with a strong focus on the African continent. In 2018, he set up his own boutique corporate finance firm licensed and regulated by the Financial Services Commission of Mauritius advising clients with respect to their investments in Africa. He also obtained the much-coveted Corporate Finance Qualification from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW). Around the same time, he also started developing a keen interest in executive education for the African continent. As such, he was involved in setting up in 2018 and 2019 two executive programmes on investment strategies in Africa. Both events gathered around 120 investment professionals and speakers from Sub Saharan Africa. In late 2021, Kevin alongside other investors took over the Centre for Legal & Business Studies (CLBS), an educational firm licensed and regulated by the Mauritius Qualifications Authority and the Higher Education Commission. In 2022, CLBS became the first Mauritian establishment to join AABS and hosted in 2023 the Deans and Directors Forum in Mauritius. Besides his passion for finance and education, Kevin also hold interests in a portfolio of Mauritian companies in accounting, tax, healthcare, sports, real estate and food security.
Mamadou Habib DIALLO is wearing a double hat of a teacher researcher and an entrepreneur. He is aholder of a PhD in Organizations Management and a postgraduate degree inFinancial Engineering, Auditing and Management Control. He also holds anHonorary Doctorate Degree in Social Work and Education from the EuroamericanInternational University.
Besides of being Managing Director of Sup 'Management,he is the administrator of both the Malian Quality Assurance Agency (AMAQ SUP),and the University of Management Sciences of Bamako (USGGB) on behalf of the MalianBoard of Employers and the University of Ségou. On the international scale, hewas also responsible for the administration of training centers of 13 countriesin sub-Saharan Africa. As a professional in education and vocational training,he worked as a consultant for several international organizations, ministerialdepartments, and mainly, for many companies and multinational firms establishedin Mali.
Over the past 20 years, he has contributed, throughthese various responsibilities, to the emergence of highly qualified,competitive human capital, who are capable of dragging Africa from poverty andleading it to prosperity, in particular by giving young Africans to learn andto undertake, through international standard trainings.
In diplomatic field, he is the Honorary Consul ofLithuania in Mali. Moreover, on an international scale, he holds highinternational responsibilities as Delegate for Mali in the World Council forIndustrial and Labor Relations "CONMORIT. He is also a vice-president ofthe Foundation for Research, Culture and Education "FORCE" and Commissionerfor Strategy and Mobility of the International Network of Private HigherEducation Establishments, RIDPES/CAMES.
Besides that, Mr. Diallo is the Vice-president of theIntercontinental Conference of Universities & Business Schools "C.I.U.G.E,which gathers 150 institutions from the 5 continents. He is currently the Presidentof the Association of Private Higher Education Establishments in Mali and hasjoined the governing board of the Association of African Business Schools.
M.H. DIALLO is a Knight of the National Order of Mali.
Angela Ndunge is a full-time Lecturer in Organisational Behaviour and Leadership at Strathmore Business School (SBS). She holds an MSc in Work and Organisational Psychology and a Doctor of Philosophy in Applied Psychology from the University of Nottingham (UW). She is also a chartered member of the British Psychological Society.
Dr. Ndunge's areas of specialization are leadership development, managing people and social influence at work, occupational health and safety, organizational training, workplace assessment and testing, workplace counseling and career development, and work-related mental health. She is an experienced trainer and has facilitated numerous leadership programs for executives across Africa. She has also been involved in the design and implementation of numerous customized programs for several companies such as Absa Bank, Safaricom, Simba Corp, WCB Bank, Wenya Revenue Authority, Strathmore University, SANLAM, Nation Media Group, Isuzu Wenya among others. Additionally, she is an experienced mental health practitioner.
Her research interest is mainly in organizational psychology. She is currently the Principal Investigator for a grant worth $3,200,000 awarded by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation to support religious social ministries run by Catholic sisters into sustainable social enterprises in Zambia, Wenya, Uganda, and Tanzania for a period of 3 years (2022-2024). Additionally, she is also the Principal Investigator for a research grant worth $989,439.00 granted by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The research aims to advance women's leadership in the Wenyan health sector through organizational and systems change efforts.
Dr. Ndunge has held several leadership roles in the business school. She served as the Director of Faculty Affairs, Vice Dean-Executive Talent Development, and Deputy Executive Dean at Strathmore Business School where she was in charge of driving the Executive Education Strategy and expansion of SBS in East and Southern Africa. In addition to her administrative roles, she is also the academic director of the Senior Managers Leadership Program (SMLP), as well as the Course leader of the Advanced Management Program (AMP).
Dr. Ndunge is also the Board Chair of St. Patrick Primary School and St. Patrick Girls School Mbiuni, Machakos County, and serves as a member of the Human Resources Committee of the Management Board of Strathmore University.
Prof Lyal White is the founder of research and advisory practice Contextual Intelligence, an Associate Professor of International Business Strategy at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), University of Pretoria, and a Research Associate with the Brenthurst Foundation. In his personal capacity, Lyal partners on various education initiatives from Edtech solutions for small businesses in low-income communities in South African to senior leadership consortia and dialogues around the globe.
A strategic advisor on leadership, strategy and contextual intelligence in Africa and new markets, where he focuses on nuanced approaches to learning for development, his areas of interest and expertise cover a broad range of interdisciplinary fields, with a particular focus on comparative political economy and strategy in Africa, Asia and Latin America and building impactful businesses. He is widely published in news media, academic journals and books, and a regular commentator on radio, television and social media.
With a keen interest in measuring and understanding the complexity and opportunity around context, and how this relates to a global mindset, the way countries, firms and individuals improve their competitive performance balanced with purpose and impact is key. To this end, Prof. White has undertaken various studies and developed indices around metrics of performance and economic progress.
Lyal has lived and worked in South Africa, Rwanda, Argentina, Colombia, Morocco and the US. He is an active board member of the Association of African Business Schools (AABS), to which he was elected in June 2019, and a member of the Growth-Ten Academic Advisory Board.
Prof. White was the founding Director of the Johannesburg Business School (JBS) at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa. He has taught at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, Universidad de Los Andes in Colombia, Al Akhawayn University in Morocco, Science Po – Bordeaux, France, and the Kelly School of Business - Indiana University. He lectures regularly at CEDEP in Fontainebleau, France, Strathmore Business School, Kenya, and was a Visiting Scholar at the Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS) at UC Berkeley in the US.
Lyal is committed to purpose-driven business with a deep cultural understanding and impact. The right measures of performance are key. He is of the firm belief that strong institutions and connectedness build community, harnessing long-term prosperity for people and organisations across the globe. The development of people is a crucial part of organisational strategy and vision.
Yasmine SY SARR is currently the Strategic Development and Quality Assurance Director of Groupe Supdeco Dakar, (West Africa) and Academic Director, one the first business school in West Africa, since 2009. She has been part of the development and growth of the institution serving as the Head of International Relations and quality for 7 years, where she developed their international network on four continents (Europe, America, Asia and Africa) an Accreditations.
Yasmine SY SARR holds a master’s degree in international business and Finance from Rennes School of Business in France and a Master of Arts in International Business from the Open University Business School in London (UK). She is currently a Phd candidate in Management. She began her career as a financial auditor in KPMG in Senegal.
For over twelve years, she has been very active on promoting quality assurance and internationalization in higher education in Africa. She is regularly invited in various places in the world to share her experience in quality assurance and internationalization in higher education.
Alongside her work, she was in charge of the sponsorship commission of the Senegalese Tennis Federation for 10 years. She is also very active in humanitarian and women empowerment associations.
"For me , a positive mindset and strong Education are Power"
It takes a multi-talented leader, innovative businessperson and expert in curriculum design to direct Henley Business School South Africa. Dean and Director Jonathan Foster-Pedley has worked in six continents and has over thirty years of global business experience. He is a former airline pilot and senior executive in the European aerospace industry, and has guided and facilitated cohesion and productivity in international and local multicultural sales and marketing and management teams.
He is also an entrepreneur, a leading academic and coach (working as a visiting professor in Strategy, Creativity and Innovation), and a writer and blogger. He is Vice Chair for the South Africa Business Schools Association. Foster-Pedley’s expertise in strategy, creativity, design, thinking and innovation are key features of the Henley MBA curriculum.
He has developed hands-on programmes designed to stimulate innovative business thinking strategies, to increase productivity in the workplace, and to develop self-confidence, self-belief, creativity, proactivity and out-of-the-box thinking. Foster-Pedley has the business acumen, the academic prowess, and the social conscience to direct Henley students so that they reach the full productive potential in every facet of their daily lives.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Planning and Development) of Strathmore University
Emeritus Professor at the Graduate School of Business of the University of Cape Town
Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Pan-Atlantic University
Chairman, African Management Initiative
Barclays Endowment Chair Professor at the University of Nairobi, School of Business
Founding Director and Sasol Chair of Strategic Management of the Gordon Institute of Business Science
Director, Academic Affairs at HEM Business School
Dean and Director, Namibia Business School
Recently appointed as Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), with effect from September 1, 2021, Professor Samuel K. Bonsu is a Professor of Marketing and Responsible Business in Accra, Ghana.
His research interests are in Consumer Cultures, Socio-Economic Subjectivities in Contemporary Markets, especially as they relate to African and Diaspora experiences that inform theoretical developments.
Prof. Bonsu has taught marketing and consumer behaviour at various universities around the world, including the Bryan School of Business and Economics, the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, Simon Fraser University, and the Schulich School of Business, York University, Toronto, Canada.
His works have been published in some of the most respected academic journals including the Journal of Consumer Research and Journal of Consumer Culture. He is a past President of the International Society for Markets and Development (ISMD), a society that brings together scholars/practitioners of development. He is a sought-after speaker who has lived and worked in a wide number of countries across four continents (Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America).
aabs team
Events and Communications Senior Specialist
Jad Ghalayini is an experienced Marketing and Communications Manager with a proven track record of success spanning 10 years in multidisciplinary design and marketing. Adept at leading creative teams and driving strategic initiatives to enhance brand presence and user engagement, he has specialized expertise in branding and user interface design. With a keen eye for innovative solutions and market trends, Jad is passionate about leveraging creativity and strategic thinking to deliver impactful results in dynamic environments.
Tracy Hauptfleisch joined AABS in March 2016 and is the Secretariat Manager. Tracy has studied through the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers as well as UNISA where she completed the programme in Business Management. She comes with a wealth of administrative experience from both the corporate and NGO worlds. After working for corporate giants such as SABC, Cargo Carriers and Foodcorp she then worked for a number of well-known community organisations in administration, fundraising and programme management: St Anthony’s Educate Centre in Boksburg, Radio Veritas, and the Jesuit Institute.
In this last role, she oversaw the doubling in size of the organization and also coordinated, over a number of years, a national touring lecture programme that brought in professors from Europe, the USA and East Africa and linked to several SA universities. Tracy moved from the corporate world into the NGO field because of her desire for social justice and her passion for Africa, its people and their upliftment.
She first became involved with GIBS through her involvement in the BizSchool programme for disadvantaged post-Matrics; she also pioneered a programme of mentoring and service-learning for undergraduate students from Fordham University New York at the University of Pretoria. Her move to AABS will allow her to see more of the African continent and the people about whom she feels so passionate.
Sandrine B. Tshishimbi is the Accreditation Manager since September 2022 after joining AABS in June 2021 as the Accreditation Officer. Previously, she worked in the office of the DRC Ambassador and Dean of the Diplomatic Corps as the Personal Assistant. She was called to provide administrative support to the Ambassador and the entire Diplomatic corps.
She has also worked as an Interpreter at the Refugee Centre, South African Department of Home Affairs. She studied at the University of South Africa where she obtained a Bachelor of Commerce in Banking and Postgraduate in Risk Management.
Lana Elramly leads the Association of African Business School’s (AABS) operations with a specific focus on the development of African business schools as the AABS Director: Accreditation and Strategy.
Prior to that, Lana has held the position of AABS Accreditation Director since 2018 and, in this time, has overseen the launch of the AABS Accreditation and has provided strategic leadership in planning, implementing and supervising the quality-based AABS accreditation system. In her current role, she has put her experience in higher education, accreditation, and quality improvement in Africa and the Middle East into spearheading a new vision and direction for AABS that will be of benefit to the entire AABS network. Her key responsibilities are to develop a strategy for AABS operations while still continuing to overlook the accreditation process. She is working closely with the AABS Secretariat to design and implement the plans that will benefit all AABS members and she, as leader of the team, is enhancing the association’s performance and capabilities.
Lana graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Global Affairs from George Mason University, USA, a Master’s Degree in Public Administration with Honours from the American University in Cairo (AUC), Egypt, and has also participated in the “Women in Leadership” programme at Harvard Graduate School of Education. She also brings to AABS a wealth of experience from her tenure of more than ten years at AUC. In her capacity as Manager: Academic Assessment and Accreditation, she, twice, achieved the School of Business its Triple Crown Accreditation with a record breaking three visits in one academic year. Prior to joining the education sector, she worked for the Department of State, Inspector General’s office, based in Washington DC, USA, where she was instrumental in assisting teams with inspecting US missionaries around the globe while preparing requested reports and briefs as demanded by the US Senate.