HEC Paris launches the pan-African program Lead Campus 2019 Sustainable Leadership in Africa with AFD

PARIS, FRANCE, OCTOBER 2, 2019

On November 25, HEC Paris is launching the first module of the Lead Campus Sustainable Leadership in Africa program, a bilingual and certified management training course, co-constructed with AFD (Agence Française de Développement), Mohammed VI Polytechnique University (Morocco), UCT GSB (Graduate School of Business of the University of Cape Town, South Africa) and the Investors and Partners (I&P) investment fund.

A first version of the Lead Campus training programme was launched in 2015 by AFD with African and French partners. It has trained more than 80 African leaders and future leaders, brought them together in a community, and supported them in the development of their skills and projects in the service of sustainable and inclusive growth for Africa. HEC Paris and the AFD Group have joined forces this year to propose a new edition of the Lead Campus programme, entitled “Sustainable Leadership in Africa”. This new program enables HEC Paris and its partners to train decision-makers and future decision-makers on the continent in managerial excellence and responsible leadership.

Lead Campus is a unique program that is totally adapted to Africa. The proposed conferences and case studies are rooted in the realities of the continent and integrate its specific needs. Lead Campus will offer five modules, to be held in five different countries, to address management as a whole, while addressing key African development issues. Their content will focus on contemporary topics, such as the components of sustainable, inclusive and responsible growth in Africa, the evolution of key entrepreneurial functions to align business models and sustainable development issues (marketing, human resources, finance), the opportunities and challenges of the digital and technological revolution, and the strengthening of links between Africa and Europe.

The structure and content of the programme reflect its strong pan-African vocation. Through its five itinerant modules, which will run from November 2019 to June 2020, Lead Campus travels the continent from East to West and from North to South, French-speaking Africa – Morocco, Côte d’Ivoire – and English-speaking Africa – Kenya, South Africa – before bringing participants together on the HEC Paris campus. The courses will be delivered in the form of face-to-face courses, online courses, company visits and conferences, involving teachers from HEC Paris and partner universities, AFD experts and partners, local stakeholders, HEC alumni, and several Young Leaders from the French-African Foundation. Participants will be supported individually in the development of a “responsible action project” and in the development of their leadership skills.

According to Bénédicte Faivre-Tavignot, affiliated professor and academic director of the program at HEC Paris: “The Lead Campus certification program must enable current and future leaders to understand the complexity of the changes and issues facing the African continent. It testifies to the school’s desire to contribute to the transformation of Africa and to the strengthening of its links with France, through the lever of entrepreneurship. »
Christelle Bitouzet, Assistant Professor and also Academic Director of the program, adds: “For HEC Paris, it was important to offer an ambitious, accessible and didactic curriculum, capable of training enlightened and responsible leaders. This is why, in addition to online and traditional courses, visits to each of the host countries, conferences conducive to debate and the application of the lessons will be added. This individual work, which will be the main focus of the training, will aim to develop new models for more efficient, responsible and inclusive organizations for the sustainable development of Africa. »

The Lead Campus programme is aimed at decision-makers with a wide range of profiles – corporate management, public service or public or private company executives, social enterprise or NGO managers, start-ups – who wish to put their leadership and commitment in the field to serve the African continent.