Africa Business Club

Building Tomorrow’s Africa
Overview
ABC past events

Overview

The Africa Business Club (ABC) at the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business is a student-led club dedicated to driving growth in Africa's emerging markets by creating unparalleled networking opportunities for students, business professionals, and entrepreneurs through Pan-African events.

The ABC team is committed to cultivating an environment of professional excellence within the GSB and beyond, ensuring meaningful engagement and transformative growth for past, present, and future students of the GSB.

The aim of the club is to build synergetic relationships between the GSB and the business world, relationships that form pathways for students

Key Accomplishments, Functions, & Responsibilities:

  • Conceptualised and led the ‘Investing for Change’ conference, a pioneering event focused on impact investing in Africa. This conference has been integrated into the CEMS - Master of International Management (MIM) program ensuring long-term academic and industry impact.
  • Established an advisory board of leading professionals from across the world to support the club's initiatives.
  • Negotiated and secured a three-year partnership agreement between Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) and the Graduate School of Business. Raised USD 60 000 in funding through this agreement, a first for the school.
  • Spearheaded initiatives that enhanced industry collaboration, student engagement, and knowledge sharing on investment and sustainable business growth in Africa.

Vision

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Our Vision

We explore ideas for creating partnerships that generate solutions tailored to Africa's unique challenges and opportunities, rather than replicating models from elsewhere in the world.

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Our Mission

To create a community of professionals, scholars, and business leaders committed to culturally relevant, socially responsible, and profitable organizations that advance the agenda of a prosperous Africa
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Our Ethos

  • We believe in creating impact through collaboration, innovation, integrity, and inclusivity.
  • The objective is to raise funds to drive the narrative around investing for change in Africa and to support future students at the GSB through the creation of a scholarship.

Meet the team

James Gachie
James Gachie

Conference & Exhibition Director

James is a seasoned professional with extensive experience in Business Development and Strategy execution in complex international regions and global accounts across Middle East and Africa.
Phillip Mangiza
Phillip Mangiza

Co-Chair

Philip is passionate about leveraging innovative technology and strategic thinking to drive organizational success - he has an MCom in Information Systems and an MBA in progress at the GSB, and currently serves as the Co-Chair for the Africa Club.
Mzwanele Ntlati
Mzwanele Ntlati

Programme Director

Mzwanele is a qualified Chartered Accountant, passionate about development finance - currently enrolled for MCOM in Development Finance at UCT GSB and serves as Programme Director for the Africa Club.

FAQ

  • Sign up on our website
  • Attend one of our introductory meetings or events
  • Pay the annual membership fee

Open to all UCT GSB students. Applications are open in February and August.

  • The annual conference which generally happens in June, networking and info events with various consultancies.
  • Some workshops are public; members get priority registration.

Access to case preparation workshops, networking events and consulting projects with real clients.