A Unisa delegation led by Professor Narend Baijnath, Pro Vice Chancellor of Unisa along with the acting CEO and Executive Director of the Unisa Graduate School of Business Leadership (SBL), Prof Valiant Clapper, visited the Ivory Coast from 8 to 11 February 2012 to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the International University of Grand Bassam (IUGB) and the SBL. The partnership between the two institutions is set around the areas of curriculum development, research collaboration, short and postgraduate programmes, capacity building as well as academic capacity sharing.
The MoU will strengthen the presence of Unisa and the SBL in francophone West Africa. Prof AA Okharedia, Academic Director of the SBL and Mr Sakaria Kone, International Relation Officer at the SBL were also part of the delegation.
At the signing ceremony attended by the national press, Prof Salitou Toure, President of IUGB said that “this is an important day in the history of IUGB and we are privileged to partner with a world renowned institution such as Unisa. We are sure to learn from your experience with the objective of making our university the hub of excellence in the region”.
Prof Baijnath, on his part, expressed the commitment of the university in capacity development of sister institutions on the continent. “By moving to francophone West Africa, Unisa is demonstrating its commitment to sharing its expertise in all regions on the continent” he added. In receiving a copy of the agreement, Prof Clapper, said: “We are committed to share our know-how in leadership and management development with IUGB”.
In addition to signing the agreement with IUGB, the delegation met the South African Embassy Officials as well as the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Higher Education of the Ivory Coast. The Ministers pledged their support to Unisa’s presence in the country and expressed the wish to see the establishment of a Unisa Hub in the country. The IUGB was officially established in 1998 and is currently the most reputed university in a country that is reshaping its higher education system after a decade of political instability.
