Unisa online - Unisa SBL signs agreement with West African Insurance Institute

Prof David Abdulai, Prof Narend Baijnath, Dr Joseph Diescho, Dr JC Uranta (Vice-Chairman of the WAII Governing Council) & Mr Bai N Faal (Vice-Chairman of the Gambian Insurance Company)

Prof Narend Baijnath, Vice-Principal: Strategy, Planning and Partnerships, led a Unisa/SBL delegation to The Gambia from 14 to 18 July 2010. The purpose of the trip was to sign a memorandum of understanding between Unisa’s Graduate School of Business Leadership (SBL) and the West African Insurance Institute (WAII).  The signing of this understanding followed a series of interactions between Prof David Abdulai, CEO and Executive Director of SBL, and Dr Mike Prince Ukopolati, Director General of WAII. 

Prof Baijnath and Prof Abdulai were accompanied by Dr Joseph Diescho, Director: International Relations and Partnerships, and Mr Sakaria Kone, Internationalisation and Institutional Collaboration Officer at the SBL.

The ceremony was held at the WAII campus outside of the capital of Banjul and was attended by the Minister of Youth and Sports, HE Mr Sherif Gomez, who represented the President and the Government of The Gambia.  Also present were the executive leadership of the WAII Governing Council and the Chief Justice of The Gambia. At this occasion, Mr Emmanuel Akomaye Agim, Chief Justice, issued a request to Unisa to consider assisting with the further training of judges and other officials in the country.

The Unisa-WAII partnership is intended to enable WAII to recruit students for the SBL Executive Development Programmes as well as its degree programmes, and for the SBL to make its campus facilities available for study school interactions once the number of students has reached 30. It is also envisaged that the SBL will offer its expertise in assisting WAII to develop its own MBA programme in the near future.

On behalf of the WAII Governing Council, Dr Ikupolati expressed his appreciation for the willingness and enthusiasm with which the SBL responded to his request for partnership and indicated that “like a child, WAII is looking to Unisa to help them through their long journey to become a fully grown and established institution offering world-class education.”

Minister Gomes, in his speech on behalf of President Yahya Jameh, expressed gratitude to Unisa and South Africa for the willingness to support the project of educating Gambians to meet the challenges of that country.

“The SBL partnership with WAII is a testimony that Unisa is indeed an African university in the service of humanity and want to deliver on its commitment to assist in capacity building on our continent,” said Prof Baijnath during the official ceremony.

In terms of his role as the initiator and implementer of this development, Prof David Abdulai, sees the relationship between Unisa and The Gambia as “a way for the SBL to show that it is not only a South African but an African Business School and the school is well on course in its knowledge sharing endeavours, and that it is an opportunity for the SBL in particular and Unisa in general to strengthen its roots in West Africa.”

Prof Baijnath also had discussions with Prof Muhammadou MO Kah, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of The Gambia, to whom an invitation was extended to visit Unisa when he next comes to South Africa. Prof Kah is a seasoned Professor of Information Technology and Communications and serves as an external examiner in his field of specialisation for at least three South African universities. The discussion centred on a range of potential collaboration possibilities between the University of The Gambia and Unisa to offer Unisa programmes in Anglophone West Africa.