AAI Announces the Launch of New Program with The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation

High performance and innovation in the commercial marketplace greatly depend upon the availability of professional management skills and leadership. In order to address the need for these skills in Africa and to enhance the capacity of professional management and leadership, the Africa-America Institute (AAI), in partnership with The Coca Cola Africa Foundation (TCCAF), Emory University's Goizueta Business School, The Aresty Institute of Executive Education at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and the United States International University in Nairobi, Kenya, has developed the Transformational Leadership & Management Skills Development Program (TLMSDP). This unique collaboration of leading Africa- and U.S.-based institutions will work together to build capacity in Africa's civil society and business sectors. This multi-year program will offer non-degree professional development and business degree training programs to African managers in Africa-based NGOs working in the fields of health, education, environment and entrepreneurship.

Through TLMSDP, AAI and its funding partner, TCCAF, aim to not only provide training and credentials to individual participants but also to confer far-reaching benefits to the organizations and communities in which these professionals serve. The pilot program, which is open to applicants from NGOs supported by TCCAF throughout Africa, expects its first cohort of participants to begin their training programs as early as April 2007.   

The Transformational Leadership & Management Skills Development Program (TLMSDP) aims to:

• Provide a wider cross-section of African private and independent sector executives with the requisite knowledge, training, management and leadership skills as well as access to networks for professional development and success;


• Help to increase the profile and augment the offerings of African business schools and other management training programs;


• Prepare and orient a pool of successful African leaders and managers who can be recruited by private sector companies, the independent non-profit sector and by the public sector in Africa; and


• Help to overcome the lack of capacity that is at the heart of poor service delivery, weak productive capacity, and slow economic growth in many African countries.

Program Partners and Course Components

The program will provide tailored programs for applicants at Africa- or U.S.- based partner institutions. Programs components and locations include: 

• The Aresty Institute of Executive Education at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, USA), offering four-week professional development courses year-round in management, leadership, marketing and finance. Courses offered will begin in April 2007.

• Emory University's Goizueta Business School (Atlanta, USA), offering a one-year master's in business administration (MBA) degree program designed for managers interested in accelerating their careers in a format designed to maximize knowledge and leadership skills. The degree program is scheduled to begin in May 2007.

• United States International University (Nairobi, Kenya), offering a one-year master's of science in management and organizational development (MOD) designed to provide advanced skills in selected business and management disciplines, including practical experience in the application of those skills in the context of the overall dynamics of organizations. The program will also provide participants an opportunity to evaluate the environments of organizations and develop responsive strategies.

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