Managers and entrepreneurs in Africa can now get free online courses thanks to the African Management Initiative (AMI).
The first series of the courses has been launched in partnership with AMI and top business schools, aimed at reaching 1 million African managers and entrepreneurs in the next decade.
The first course, Managing Customers and Markets, is available on AMI’s new online learning platform at http://www.africanmanagers.org. It was developed with Strathmore Business School in Kenya.
AMI, a social enterprise established in 2012 to tackle Africa’s management capacity gap, leverages technology to empower African managers and entrepreneurs through practical, accessible and locally relevant learning tools.
“Our goal is to help African managers and entrepreneurs develop new skills and build their businesses by providing access to world-class learning tools for free or very low-cost,” said Jonathan Cook, Chairman and Co-Founder of AMI. “Our courses are practical and proudly African. Our platform is easy-to-use, and can be accessed anytime, anywhere, on a computer or mobile phone.”
AMI has partnered with Africa’s most prestigious business schools, including leading business schools; Strathmore Business School in Kenya, the University of Pretoria’s Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) in South Africa and Lagos Business School in Nigeria. AMI has already trained over 1,000 managers in 25 countries.
The AMI course is free, and participants can upgrade to gain a personalized certificate on completion from AMI and its business schools for $25.The course takes approximately 30 hours of study, including a final exam and assignment. Around 3000 people from across Africa have already signed up.
AMI also provides training via offline Learning Lab workshops in partnership with organizations and businesses in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, South Africa and Ghana.
“AMI’s vision is for 1 million African managers performing effectively and responsibly by 2023. We will achieve this through accessible learning tools that embrace the digital space,” added Cook. “Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) have been used in the US and Europe to provide skills and knowledge. We are now applying this in Africa.”
