Stanford Graduate School of Business (Stanford GSB) today announced a $3 million, three-year partnership with De Beers Group to empower young, budding entrepreneurs and owners of established businesses in Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa through two new educational programmes launching in 2018.
Stanford is expanding two of its successful programmes to southern Africa: the Seed Transformation Programme of the Stanford Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies, known as Stanford Seed, and the Stanford Go-to-Market programme for accelerating business ventures to market.
Seed Transformation Programme
This is a one-year programme of intensive sessions on topics such as leadership, strategy, business ethics, accounting, marketing, and value chain innovations. Skilled facilitators assist participants in applying classroom insights, developing leadership teams, and formulating a detailed plan for organisational transformation and growth. Seed facilitators also work with participants in carefully constructed leadership peer groups, offering networking opportunities, resources, and ideas to help implement the participants’ transformation plans. The mission of the programme is to enable business owners to lead their regions to greater prosperity through the growth of their companies and job creation. It will be open to owners of established businesses in Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa. Applications will be accepted from August 17 to October 6, 2017.
Stanford Go-to-Market programme
This is an intensive, one-week entrepreneurship bootcamp, taught by Stanford GSB faculty, held in cities around the globe. Through a combination of lectures, case studies, and small-group discussions, the programme helps budding entrepreneurs gain the confidence and skills to commercialise their business ideas and accelerate their route to market. While Botswana will host the first Stanford Go-to-Market programme in Africa, the bootcamp may expand to include participants from other southern African countries once fully established. Applications for the Stanford Go-to-Market programme in Botswana will be accepted this fall and the cohort will convene in March 2018.
Expansion plans
The Seed Transformation Programme launched in West Africa in 2013 and expanded to East Africa in 2016, and will open a third location in India later this month. Faculty, staff, and coaches have trained more than 500 business leaders with the goal of promoting prosperity in these regions.
Both programmes will be headquartered at the Botswana Innovation Hub, a science and technology park in Gaborone, Botswana. The initiative will be supported by a range of government entities in Botswana, including the Botswana Innovation Hub, the Botswana Ministry of Tertiary Education, and the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport & Culture Development.