Andrew Young School & Robinson College receive $5 million for South African econ growth center
at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies

The U.S. Agency for International Development recently awarded a $5 million grant to Georgia State University to create a business-training and skills-development institute in Sub-Saharan Africa.

CENTER OF BUSINESS: Georgia State University and University of Pretoria officials signed an agreement May 3 to establish the Ronald H. Brown Institute, a business-training and skills-development center in Sub-Saharan Africa. Pictured, left to right, are H. Fenwick Huss, associate dean of Georgia State's Robinson College of Business; Roy Bahl, dean of the Andrew Young School; Ron Henry, Georgia State provost and vice president of academic affairs; Johan van Zyl, vice-chancellor and principal of the University of Pretoria; Chabani Manganyi, advisor to the principal; and Sibusiso Vil-Nkomo, University of Pretoria dean of economic and management sciences.

Named for the late U.S. Secretary of Commerce, the goal of the Ronald H. Brown Institute is to contribute to private-sector-led economic growth in Africa by strengthening the skills of people already in business and providing training to other individuals, especially students, aspiring to enter the business world.

Georgia State's Andrew Young School of Policy Studies and Robinson College of Business are leading a consortium of U.S. and South African institutions to undertake the project. Principal partners include the University of Pretoria and its faculty of economics and management sciences and the Center for Scientific and Industrial Research. The institute will be located on the campus of the University of Pretoria, strategically situated in the business-innovation hub created by the University of Pretoria, the CSIR and the Gauteng Provincial Government.

"We welcome this collaboration with Georgia State University," said Sibusiso Vil-Nkomo, dean of the faculty of economic and management sciences at the University of Pretoria. "In addition to the workshops, seminars and internships, the faculty of management sciences and CSIR will endeavor to establish business incubators that will be used for the benefit of Sub-Saharan Africa participants in the Ron H. Brown Institute."

The University of Venda, located in the rural northern province of South Africa, and Albany State University, located in southwest Georgia and home to the Ronald H. Brown International Trade Center, will host workshops focusing on agri-business promotion. The institute will offer internships in American and African companies, women's mentorship programs, and fellowships for study at Georgia State. Internships will focus on sectors critical to growth in Sub-Saharan Africa, including science and technology, tourism, mining, international trade, finance, information technology, and research and development. By the end of the project, 250 participants - 30 percent of whom will be women - are expected to have completed the internship program.

Four participants in the Ronald H. Brown Fellows Program will undertake a year of post-graduate study and mentorship at Georgia State University. The institute also will offer seminars and workshops, assist with the development of business plans, identify business-financing options, and promote business-to-business relationships.

"Because of the tremendous development challenges and the vast economic potential, there is no more fitting place for Georgia State University to expand its educational outreach than to the nations of Africa," said former U.S. Ambassador John Hicks, now director of international studies at Georgia State.

The Andrew Young School will provide expertise in public finance, taxation and international fiscal/economic reform, emphasizing public-sector policies designed to promote a thriving private sector.

"Entrepreneurs cannot succeed if they don't understand the economic environment in which they work, and those who regulate the economy must appreciate the challenges of entrepreneurship," said Andrew Young School Dean Roy Bahl. "Economics is a very important part of the work of this institute."

The Robinson College of Business will contribute its resources in technology (information systems), hospitality, business-to-business development and promotion, business incubation, entrepreneurship, research, and strategic planning.

The project's co-directors are Bahl and H. Fenwick Huss, associate dean of the Robinson College of Business.