A Helping Hand to Africa

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In fact, it's the opposite. We have the impression that there's a lack of involvement and there's a huge need. A lot of people speak about it, but not so many business schools are really doing something.

If I take the example of the cotton industry, there's no such thing as a business school involved in this industry. That's why HEC decided to go there. This is one of the biggest parts of the African economy. If business schools were [truly] involved, they would have already been adding to the value of this industry. That's not the case.

I don't know how to interpret this. The reason why we go there is because we think it is part of our corporate social responsibility. We are one of the leading business schools in Europe, and we think that it's part of our mission. That's why we developed this office in Senegal two years ago and have taken on this [cotton industry] project.

Will other B-schools follow your example?

I sincerely hope other business schools go to Africa because a lot of clever, high-potential people are there (see BusinessWeek.com, 11/2/06, "Africa's B-School Challenge"). They need to be trained in Africa, and they need to remain and take on entrepreneurial projects in Africa.

It's not just the B-schools that we need. We also need people who have money to invest in companies in Africa. I think it's part of the survival of this continent. There are a lot of young people who are very motivated. Our role is to develop their skills by partnering with local institutions.

In Senegal, we helped the local institution to train doctoral students who will become professors in [local] business schools. We think going to them is the best thing we can do to contribute to the success of the local economy. We think a lot of people with money will go there to invest.

What are the incentives for businesspeople to go to Africa?

I think it has to do with the corporate social responsibility issue. For example, Danone [DA] decided to go into Bangladesh to produce yogurt for the local market.

To be successful, Danone needed to reevaluate its value chain. It could not operate in the same way as it did [at home]. It needed to reshape operations. It, for example, needed to find companies that would give loans to the local farmers who have cows. The business all has to be sustainable. You cannot waste money.

It's the same thing for the university. We are ready to make less money than we would make in other countries, of course. But it wouldn't make sense to say we are going to Africa, and we want to lose money.

I think we need to invent business models that are consistent and sustainable. We need to work with local universities on the local level. We need to have students, not only professors, involved. We need to revisit the [traditional] business model to make it sustainable.

There is money to be made if entrepreneurs invest in Africa and other developing economies?

I do believe the "bottom of the pyramid" approach is a reality. Again, for this to be profitable, companies have to revisit their value chain, the way they operate. You can not use exactly the same operational mode in Africa and in France.

That's part of our mission. We need to adapt to local contexts and cultures. When we go to Africa, we need to respect the local specificities but at the same time we have to adapt our own approaches to the reality in those countries. We cannot import our own view. We have to have a different perspective and be open to different views. This is what corporate social responsibility is all about. We think we have a responsibility to contribute to these countries.

What is your greatest hope for the cotton program?

At the end of the day, what we expect is that we have an impact on the economy of this sector. If we increase the managerial skills at all levels of this industry, we will foster the competitiveness of this sector. This same knowledge can then be applied to other industries in Africa.