Educators
Impact or Irrelevance: The Strategic Future of African Business Schools
Webinar This webinar positions societal impact and necessary transformation as a core strategic priority for African business schools, not a peripheral activity. It explores how schools can intentionally contribute to reduction in deep inequality, dominance of unethical and incompetent leadership practices, stagnating economies characterized by debt distress, financial inclusion, SME development, entrepreneurship, and workforce readiness while moving beyond siloed approaches.
Panelists will examine cross‑sector and cross‑disciplinary models that bring together business, technology, policy, and civil society, highlighting the evolving role of business schools as conveners, connectors, and co‑creators within integrated ecosystems that deliver real, measurable outcomes that address the real problems facing the continent.
Speakers
Lily Bi brings over 30 years of experience in strategy setting, global growth and development, internal audit, and technology innovation. Bi has held executive positions in multiple industries, corporations, and nonprofit associations across the United States, Japan, Singapore, and China, including the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), the Internal Audit Foundation, and Kirin Holding Company. At the IIA, she led the global standards setting, provided strategic direction for global certifications, and oversaw global research and academic programs. Working with IIA affiliates in over 100 countries and territories, Bi was responsible for the growth of 26 million USD in revenue in various IIA areas. She received a Doctor of Business Administration from the University of South Florida and is a Certified Internal Auditor. She is multilingual, with fluency in English, Japanese, and Chinese.
Olusola Bandele Oyewole is a distinguished African scholar, higher education strategist, and internationally respected academic leader renowned for advancing Africa’s transformation through education, research, innovation, and knowledge diplomacy. He brings extensive expertise in Food Microbiology and Biotechnology, reflecting his commitment to harnessing science, technology, and innovation for development. He serves as Secretary-General of the Association of African Universities (AAU), the premier continental organization representing African universities and higher education institutions, where he has provided strategic leadership in policy advocacy, quality assurance advancement, digital transformation, research collaboration, institutional capacity building, and continental higher education integration. Previously, he served as Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Nigeria, where he championed institutional transformation, entrepreneurship, innovation, research excellence, and global partnerships. Professor Oyewole also served as a Higher Education Expert at the African Union Commission, contributing to strategic continental initiatives in higher education harmonization, scholarship development, skills enhancement, and knowledge economy advancement. He coordinated the World Bank-supported Quality Assurance initiative for African universities, strengthening institutional effectiveness and accountability frameworks across the continent.
Contact Us
For more information, please contact events@aacsb.edu.
Conference