From left, Adam Craker, Adam Habib, IMD Prof. Phil Rosenzweig
In February, the IMD Alumni Club of South Africa were pleased to host guest speaker Adam Habib, an accomplished professor of political geography, and the Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in Johannesburg. Habib is also an activist, and a renowned political media commentator and columnist.
The event coincided with a discovery trip by the IMD/CKGSB dual EMBA class to South Africa to explore the business environment in the country.
In 2016, the Minister of Higher Education in South Africa announced that there would be university fee increases across the board capped at 8% for 2017; however, each institution was given the freedom to decide by how much their tuition would increase. This has meant that many of the country’s less wealthy students have been priced out of higher education. South African universities like Wits have faced sustained and disruptive protests since 2016.
At the IMD hosted event Adam Habib discussed how he and his school are facing up to the challenge, the education crisis in general in South Africa, and parallels around the world. Habib also stressed the need for more ties between business and academia.
According to Adam Craker, President of the IMD Alumni Club of South Africa, it was a great honor for the club to host Adam Habib and the event was a success as well as an inspiration for those in attendance.
“Prof. Habib’s plans for Wits are an inspiration for me and I know many other business leaders share the desire to play our role to ensure the bond between education and business is strengthened,” said Craker.
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