Dismantling stereotypes: HSE Graduate School of Business develops co-operation with Africa

Certain stereotypes have long been formed about African countries: for example, that these countries have poor education, low level of technological progress and economic development. However, in the 21st century, the African continent is rapidly developing in all these areas, and the HSE Graduate School of Business has already received the first results of the new partnership in the region.

The GSB works only with the best universities and business schools, each time carefully selecting partners to offer students and staff a high level of academic exchanges. One of the GSB's recent partners is the Business School of the Rabat International University in Morocco (RBS). The school was accredited by the AACSB in 2020 and ranked in the Top 100 best business schools in the world by the Financial Times Master in Management Ranking 2022.  Having signed its first cooperation agreement last year, the GSB is already working with Rabat Business School in several areas, including student mobility, a dual degree programme, and new research opportunities.

 

In May, representatives of the RBS took part in the second annual conference Sustainable business practices in a VUCA world - ICSBP2024, organised by the RBS. The scientific conference was devoted to the problems of sustainable development in developing economies. The conference was attended by Anna Veselova, Director of the Centre for Sustainable Development Management (ESG Centre) at the GSB, Associate Professor at the Department of Strategic and International Management, Lyudmila Cheglakova, Associate Professor at the Department of Organisational Behaviour and Human Resource Management, Ansel Shaidullin, PhD student at the Department of Business Informatics, and Alexandra Sidorenko, Manager of the GSB ESG Centre. The conference participants presented reports with the results of research on sustainable development. 

 

One of the acute topics on the agenda was the analysis of factors influencing the active participation of women entrepreneurs in the implementation of projects of various kinds, both in traditional areas of business and those with special social effects. Also experts discussed the issues of various forms of involvement of small and medium-sized companies in the implementation of social initiatives and the impact of these projects on the sustainability of companies. A number of reports touched upon the interdependence between stakeholders and their position, value creation and environmental activities of SMEs. Researchers analysed the possibilities of using decentralised finance technologies (DeFi) to improve the sustainability of the financial system in developing countries and the transparency of financial transactions.

 

Participation in the conference allowed to present the GSB research’s results and also to expand the range of professional contacts for further scientific co-operation with representatives of universities in Africa, USA, Italy, Germany, UK, France and Turkey.

In the academic year 2023/2024, for the first time GSB students went on a long-term mobility programme to Morocco under an exchange agreement. According to Sofia Sosnina, a 3rd year student of the GSB Business Management programme, when the opportunity to study in Morocco arose, she had doubts because she knew very little about the country. But in the end, a semester at the Rabat International University Business School shattered all the myths and stereotypes: "The education system at Rabat Business School is very similar to the one at the GSB. And the country itself is absolutely extraordinary and unlike any other. I am sure that I will return there more than once."

 

On May 23, an agreement was signed between the HSE Graduate School of Business and Rabat Business School on a dual degree programme, which will be available from September 2024 for students of the GSB Master's programme "Business Analytics and Big Data". Master's students will have the opportunity to receive two degrees at once: from GSB and Rabat Business School RBS, as well as a unique cultural and educational experience in Morocco - part of their studies will take place in Morocco. In the near future, the GSB and Rabat Business School intend to work on expanding co-operation.