The development of management education in sub-Saharan Africa: The example of Senegal

Abstract

Business schools have participated in the socio-economic development of Senegal's private sector since the 1980s. Some schools received funding and support through partnerships with business schools in Northern countries, mainly France. In order to be able to rely on this assistance, business schools in Senegal had to offer educational programs supported by these organizations and their professors. My analysis based on case studies, content analysis of materials available online, interviews with directors and participant observation shows that the development of management training in Senegal from the 1980s onwards was mainly based on professors from abroad and former students who had studied in France. Links with business schools in Europe and particularly in France helped to spread the kind of neo-liberal management that was in vogue in the 1980s. The schools have grown and increasingly rely on domestic resources: case studies of local SMEs taught, longer internships in companies, the creation of business incubators, committed professors, and, recently, redesigned curricula, including aspects of socio-economic change in African cultures. These efforts are part of a broader movement to support the particularities of an emerging economy, where professionals in their forties are beginning to occupy key positions.