From left to right: Prof VA Clapper, acting Executive Director and CEO of the SBL, Mr Mengistab Kidan, Deputy Director General of Kaizen and Information Technology, Mr Endalkachew Damite, Human Resource Director of the Sugar Corporation, Mr S Kone SBL Internationalisation Officer and Mr Yifru Bekele, SBL Coordinator in Ethiopia.
Prof VA Clapper, acting Executive Director and CEO of the SBL, visited Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to meet SBL stakeholders in order to strengthen existing partnerships and to assess the challenges faced by students in this country. The visit took place from 12 – 15 August 2012. He was accompanied by Mr S Kone, SBL Internationalisation Officer.
Prof Clapper met with Mr Megistab Kidan, Deputy Director General, Kaizen and Information Technology and Mr Andalkachru Damite, Human Resources Director of the Sugar Corporation and SBL MBL Alumni. Mr Kidan welcomed the SBL delegation and indicated that the visit comes at the right time due to the fact that 13 sugar plantation projects of the corporation are about to be launched. The SBL could assist in filling the gaps that are not addressed by the projects; these include change management, continuous improvement, corporate governance and ethics as well as practical project management.
The corporation identified senior managers to register for the SBL Master of Business Leadership (MBL) and Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration programmes. The two parties agreed to develop a memorandum of agreement (MOA) which will be signed by the end of September 2012.
Prof Clapper also had a meeting with the management of the Industrial Project Service (IPS) which has the mandate of consulting and training government owned industrial projects. The meeting was hosted by Mr Ayele Assefa, General Manager of IPS. During his address Prof Clapper indicated the readiness of the SBL to work with IPS in establishing capacity building in Ethiopia. The IPS is a pioneer in industrial consultancy in Ethiopia with over 25 years of proven experience in this field. The areas of collaboration were identified as consultancy, capacity building in management and leadership as well as customised short-learning programmes for selected clients.
The SBL delegation also met with the Metal and Engineering Corporation (METEC) to discuss the implementation of the existing collaboration agreement between the two institutions. METEC currently has 11 students registered for the MBL programme and 14 undergraduate students registered for other Unisa programmes.
Prof Clapper held a meeting with Mr Yifru T Bekele, the SBL Coordinator in Ethiopia to get first hand information on the challenges faced by students of SBL. Various recommendations were suggested by Prof Clapper and his team to assist Ethiopian students in streamlining aspects like management of prescribed books, supervision of DBL students and marketing of the SBL in Ethiopia.
The visit to Ethiopia offered an opportunity to reiterate the importance of strengthening the partnership with the Ethiopian Government. Ethiopia, being the second most populated country on the continent; boasts a rapidly growing economy and offers the potential for further expansion of SBL offerings in this country.
