School community helps send students to Harvard’s Africa Business Conference

Thanks to the support of donors to the Ted Rogers School of Management’s Dean’s Circle fund, in partnership with TMU Global Learning and the Ted Rogers Students’ Society (TRSS), nine students had the opportunity to attend a conference at Harvard Business School (HBS) to expand their knowledge of business and entrepreneurship in Africa.

The HBS Africa Business Conference (external link, opens in new window)  is the largest student-run African conference in the world. Held annually over the past 26 years, the conference hosts leaders and experts on Africa to discuss the state of and opportunities across the continent. This year’s event, which took place February 16 to 17, 2024 on the HBS campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, explored Africa’s next chapter under the theme: “Africa Forward: Competing in a Global Era.”

Attending from the Ted Rogers School were two graduate students (Ojima Ocheje and Simi Olatunji) and seven undergraduate students (Yero Abbatulam, Ruquyo Ali, Nathalia Lewis, Bushra Mohamud, Samantha Mpiana, Azhar Osman and Bersabel Ogbazghi). Financial support from donors, TRSS and the university covered the students’ conference fees and flights, giving them this exceptional learning and networking opportunity.

Gifts to the Dean's Circle support the areas of greatest need for Ted Rogers School students. Cynthia Holmes, Dean of the Ted Rogers School, recognizes the importance of providing experiential learning opportunities to students. 

“Furthering experiential learning opportunities for racialized students has been identified as one of the school’s top priorities, and with the support of our generous alumni and friends, we are able to make opportunities like the HBS Africa Business Conference more accessible,” Holmes explains.

“I am thankful to our donors for their support and for also recognizing that equal access and unique learning opportunities will help give our students a competitive edge when they leave our school," she adds.

Ted Rogers MBA student Simi Olatunji found the conference both encouraging and inspiring. “It's not common here in North America to be surrounded by first- and second-generation Africans who have broken through in their respective industries,” she says. “My overall most memorable moments were the times spent connecting with like-minded folks from all across the world and finding our common grounds.”

Olatunji is thankful for the school’s support that made it possible for her to attend the conference and credits the funding made available as a deciding factor to attend.

Samantha Mpiana, a Business Management student, said that she would have missed out on this great opportunity had it not been for receiving financial support. “I’ve always valued the global connectivity that travelling provides, and being able to attend such a global conference with a mosaic of African cultures was an amazing experience,” she points out. “The funding I received made going to the conference possible, and I am grateful to have had that experience.”