vol. XVI no. 2

				South Africa, continued The University of Pretoria (UP) is the exact opposite of Venda in many ways. An all-white urban university near South Africa's capital Johannesburg, the UP and other major white institutions received the bulk of government higher education funding and have facilities and programs comparable to those in any developed western country. Although the UP was essentially a white Afrikaner institution, it moved aggressively to reinvent itself in response to the transformational goals of the new democratic South Africa. Today about one-third of the student population is black, and continual progress is being made in recruiting non-white faculty and administrators. The University of Pretoria is the major South African partner in the RBI initiative. As with the University of Venda, much of Robinson's success must be credited to the leadership UP Vice Chancellor and Professor Carl Pistorius has provided. The RBI project is one of the major programs funded by the USAID's Education for Development and Democracy Initiative (EDDI). Conceived and implemented as a special U.S. government interagency initiative led by USAID, the EDDI supports special programs throughout Africa. Georgia Bowser, a business and economic development expert and veteran field director of USAID-funded programs in Africa, is the RBI's chief of party (on-site project head). "Our primary mission is human resource development," said Bowser. "This includes a Ron Brown Fellows program to prepare for future leadership of the RBI, an entrepreneurship awards program and a women's mentoring program to link interns with senior mentors in business." Bowser also noted that business promotion and business creation through workshops on key themes critical to business success are also on the RBI agenda. In addition, the RBI is starting a Business Development and Service Center, offering business-to-business collaboration, technical assistance and business innovation. "The internship program is also very successful," said Bowser. The RBI has placed interns at several major companies, including the Ford Motor Company plant in Pretoria. Elias Monareng, salaried personnel associate at Ford, said that the RBI internship program is a real boon for Ford, which splits the cost with the RBI. Said Monareng, "This program is a win-win for the student and the company. For students, it's an opportunity to learn, and it prepares them for future employment. For Ford, it saves time, since we don't have to hunt for quality individuals, and it helps us fulfill our responsibility of being a good corporate citizen." The RBI program, however, is not just local. According to Bowser, "Although the main office is at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in what is known as South Africa's innovation hub in Pretoria, the RBI's influence extends all over continent." In Ghana, for example, the RBI has been particularly successful in placing interns, thanks to the efforts of Jonas Atingdui, RBI coordinator for that country, who signed up 26 new interns in his first two months on the job. In addition to his corporate background, he is a veteran of SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise), an international nonprofit organization operating in 35 countries whose aim is to instill entrepreneurial desire and skills. Atingdui was referred to the RBI through that program. Said Huss, "It is gratifying to see these programs develop as they have over the past three years. Economic development is really key to solving many of the problems that South Africa is facing today. For example, political stability is tied directly to economic development. So are the efforts to curb the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Medical costs and the costs of losing the workforce are tremendous. We strongly believe that Robinson's USAID programs to foster business growth, to educate the populace and to encourage entrepreneurship will help this country overcome these obstacles. These programs present a real opportunity not only to enhance South Africa's economic outlook but to improve the opportunities and quality of life for all its citizens." Top | Previous Page

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