Future promise: MBA programs in Africa and the Middle East

The QS Global 200 Business Schools Report 2012

The business schools in this year’s rating for the Africa and Middle East region have all featured in previous years.

Three out of five of the schools are located in South Africa. There are many more business schools across the African continent, but management education is still in its infancy and it will take many years before these schools achieve real prominence on the international stage.

As a result of the ongoing civil unrest in the Middle East and North Africa region, and the political developments that are following mass protests as part of the Arab Spring uprising, it could well be the case that in the future institutions in the region may become more prominent to international employers, as the ease of doing business within some countries improves. However, if this does happen, it is not likely to be in the immediate future, as the countries experiencing these protests will first be focused on overcoming the primary causes of the uprisings themselves.

In general terms, business education in the Middle East is in the very early stages of development. However, with the region looking to diversify its economy away from a strong reliance on the extraction and trade of natural resources, countries such as Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are investing in attracting management education providers from abroad to help train local business leaders and future-proof their economies. The Dubai Knowledge Village, established in 2003 has attracted many international business schools to set up campuses within the purpose built education facility. Initiatives such as these are relatively new ventures in the region and provide part-time, online or rotational programs. London Business School for example has a campus in Abu Dhabi. However, none of these institutions appear in the QS Global 200 Business Schools Report in their own right, as they do not produce dedicated full-time MBAs serving employers in the region, and so are not included in the research.

Employers are turning to some of the long established university-based business schools in the region. The two schools vying for the top spots in this region are the long-established University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business, founded in the 1960s and the American University Cairo, established in 1919. Other South African business schools feature prominently year-on-year, including Stellenbosch and Witwatersrand.

The University of Stellenbosch Business School and Suliman S Olayan School of Business at the American University of Beirut have both shown year-on-year improvements. After holding fifth place for two years, the University of Stellenbosch Business School has climbed to third place. Suliman S Olayan School of Business, which entered the African and Middle Eastern ratings in 2010 in seventh place, has moved to fourth this year.