25.10.2023

Research and teaching stay of African professors at the ESB Business School

DAAD-funded research and teaching visit by African Professors to ESB Business School in Reutlingen has been a big success

The DBA research group welcomed three Professors from Ethiopia, Ghana and Rwanda to the ESB Business School under the framework of the DAAD-administered Erasmus+ Program from Monday 16 October 2023 to Wednesday 18 October 2023. The aim of this research workshop was to explore avenues for research collaboration between scholars from ESB Business School and from the African Universities. 

On the first day, the three African Professors gave insightful lectures to students of the ESB Business School about the private sector in African markets. They pointed out the challenges (access to finance, poor infrastructure, high transport costs, access to market, and corruption) and highlighted measures undertaken by the private sector to overcome these challenges through rotational saving schemes, new market linkages and digitalization. 

On the second day, the DBA team and scholars of ESB Business School interacted with the Professors from Africa, discussing  topics of mutual research interests. Potential overlaps laid in the fields of innovation and entrepreneurship, nature of business partnerships in Africa business, African business competitiveness and integration into global value chains, and corporate social responsibility in Africa. The idea is to investigate specific cooperation in the fields. Following the research discussion, the Professors paid a visit to the Chamber of Commerce in Reutlingen (IHK Reutlingen) where the institution’s business scout - Mr Alexander Sicking - explained the mandate of the institution and their support for doing business in Africa, followed by a fruitful discussion on business potentials in African markets.

On the last day, the Professors were taken on a company tour to Karl Mayer Stoll, a hidden champion from the textile machine industry with a strong African footprint. Mr Lutz Vogel, Area Sales Manager and Mr Thomas Stiefel, Technician for Machine Programming gave an engaging tour in the breath-taking factory followed by discussion on practical issues in doing business in Africa.  

The visit by the African colleagues helped to share insights, identify mutual research interests and fostered the relevance of applied research approaches when looking at Doing Business in Africa. The result is a mutual basis from which further activities may take-off knitting a closer network between DBA Reutlingen’s research activities on private sector in Africa and the African scholarly perspective on business. 

We appreciate the efforts of all those who contributed to making the visit of the African Professors a success. Please stay tuned for our research activities and check the DBA website for full details of our research work.