Edinburgh Business School has marked the achievements of its long-standing presence in Africa with a celebration event for graduates

The event, held earlier this year, saw 200 graduates from across the continent gather in Johannesburg. Edinburgh Business School has been offering executive education in Africa since 1990 and currently has 3,760 students with a further 2000 alumni from its MBA programme.

The event also celebrated the first 23 graduates from the African Scholarship programme launched and funded by Edinburgh Business School in 2010. The scholarship scheme is the largest of its kind; offering 250 people in Africa a fully-funded place on the Edinburgh Business School distance learning MBA (Master of Business Administration) programme.

The scholarship programme, which was established in 2010 by Edinburgh Business School, has enabled applicants from across Africa to gain access to advanced management skills and expertise, helping them to effect change in their organisations and communities. The flexibility of the distance learning MBA has also enabled students to continue working while they learn, implementing their new knowledge and skills in the workplace immediately.

Active in Africa for over 20 Years

Professor Keith Lumsden, Academic Director of Edinburgh Business School, the Graduate School of Business of Heriot-Watt University, commented on the school’s presence in Africa and scholarship scheme: 

“Edinburgh Business School has been active in Africa for over 20 years and to celebrate this long standing relationship, we established The Africa Scholarship Programme in 2010. We are very proud to recognise and celebrate all of our graduates.  They emerge equipped with skills that will enhance not only their own lives but also the wider communities around them.  All of the people we are recognising have worked hard to secure their MBA’s and will, no doubt, go on to achieve great things”.

The first African Scholarship Programme graduates are from 6 countries: Zimbabwe, Uganda, Malawi, Mauritius, Kenya and Zambia. Graduating student Simon Peter Kavuma from Uganda commented on the opportunity and the impact the MBA and The African Scholarship Programme has had on his life:

“Receiving the scholarship was a life changing event, and it’s difficult to see how I would have studied for the MBA without it. My MBA studies have led to career progression and possibilities that would have been impossible without it”.

Recently appointed Deputy Chief Finance Office at Citbank Uganda, Simon believes that the MBA was an important factor in securing the new position.

Graça Machel, leading educationalist and wife of the late Nelson Mandela, commented on the scholarship programme:

“Scholarship programmes offer a wonderful opportunity for students from all over Africa to learn, gain and share invaluable technical, managerial and leadership skills, as well as obtain recognised qualifications. These skills are vital in our future leaders. I hope that as the Edinburgh Business School scholars graduate, they will continue to develop leadership which promote the conditions for the full exercise of citizen’s rights including equity and dignity for all”.

In order to apply for a place on the MBA programme, students must be a national or resident in a sub-Saharan African country, have a university degree and at least two years of full time work experience.  In order to eligible for the scholarship applicants must:

For further details and guidance on how to apply to The African Scholarship Programme please visit www.canoncollins.org.uk/edinburghmba.html