The leaders of the future need to be able to answer tomorrow’s questions, today. But the most important of these questions need to be answered with a global perspective in order to achieve maximum local relevance. Moreover, these answers need to be informed by the most pressing concerns of our time: environment, sustainability, and good governance (ESG).

To build the world’s most progressive and resilient organisations, incumbent and future industry leaders need to understand how their strategies can harness international best practice and trends.

With site visits to Tesla, Alibaba, Baidu, Beijing Benz Automotive (BBAC) and Tencent, as well as engagement sessions with key Middle Eastern capital market decision makers, the the UCT GSB’s International Executive Development Programme (IEDP) offers organisational leaders and decision makers an opportunity to learn about, network with, and benchmark their goals against the world’s leading companies, executives and visionaries.

Unlike other IEDPs offered by South African business schools, the UCT GSB has decided to theme its inaugural programme to reflect the School’s expertise in and commitment to upholding the principles and values. The theme for 2024 is “Environmental, Social, Governance” (ESG) – an area of specialisation that has made the UCT GSB one of the top ranked business schools in the world, and which has recently earned it a Top 40 place in the prestigious Corporate Knights Better World ranking.

“We are not the first business school in Africa to offer an IEDP programme,” says the UCT GSB’s Director of Business Development, Rayner Canning, “because we thought long and hard about how to create a programme that is distinctive, and one that reflects the values and expertise of the Graduate School of Business and, at the same time will deliver the focussed impact of a customised solution.”

The short course starts at the UCT GSB’s fabled Breakwater campus, with an intensive immersion into topics including Leading in Volatile Times, ESG and its effect on the Evolution of Capital Markets, and the Impact of Geopolitics on African Business. Delegates will then spend a week at the UCT GSB’s Johannesburg campus in Sandton, where they will attend masterclass sessions on Effective Strategy Execution, Cybersecurity, and Artificial Intelligence.

Thereafter, the IEDP delegates get to apply their newfound knowledge in Dubai, Shanghai, and Beijing through the UCT GSB’s network of global corporate partners and international colleagues, exploring topics such as Capital Raising and ESG Implications, The Application of Artificial Intelligence in Emerging Markets, as well as a visit to the Beijing University Campus, Red Square, and the Great Wall of China.

“When we say that the UCT GSB is Africa’s gateway to the world, we must bear in mind that this is a two-way portal,” says Dr Catherine Duggan, Director of the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business (UCT GSB). “We are imparting cutting-edge research and knowledge about emerging markets to the world; but we are also bringing international thought leadership and best practice to Africa.”

In order to be competitive on the international stage, says Canning, Africa’s leaders need to gain insight into their global context – and then apply uniquely African perspectives. But always in line with the UCT GSB’s motto to create a new world with new ideas.

“The UCT GSB’s International Development Programme has been designed to cater for the leading executive with their eyes on the future,” says IEDP programme director Dr David Makovah “We’re looking at the transformation of capital markets, and we’re going to be exploring African opportunities in global contexts.

“Our vision is to pre-emptively reward the leaders of the future by exposing them to and inspiring them with an immersive global experience. Because an inspired leader is an inspiring leader, and a new world needs new ideas.”

Find out more about the UCT Graduate School of Business’s International Executive Development Programme. Or contact the UCT GSB’s Executive Education or Customised Programmes team: [email protected].  DM