QS Global 200 Business Schools Report 2012 - International ...

9. Middle East and Africa
Source: QS Global 200 Business Schools Report 2012 (TopMBA.com)
The business schools in this year’s rating for
the Africa and Middle East region have all
featured in previous years. Three out of five of
the schools are located in South Africa. There are
many more business schools across the African
continent, but management education is still in
its infancy and it will take many years before
these schools achieve real prominence on the
international stage.
As a result of the ongoing civil unrest in the
Middle East and North Africa region, and the
political developments that are following mass
protests as part of the Arab Spring uprising,
it could well be the case that in the future
institutions in the region may become more
prominent to international employers, as the
ease of doing business within some countries
improves. However, if this does happen, it is
not likely to be in the immediate future, as the
countries experiencing these protests will first
be focused on overcoming the primary causes of
the uprisings themselves.
In general terms, business education in the
Middle East is in the very early stages of
development. However, with the region looking
to diversify its economy away from a strong
reliance on the extraction and trade of natural
resources, countries such as the United Arab
Emirates and Qatar are investing in attracting
management education providers from abroad
to help train local business leaders and futureproof
their economies. The Dubai Knowledge
Village, established in 2003 has attracted
many international business schools to set up
campuses within the purpose built education
facility. Initiatives such as these are relatively
new ventures in the region and provide parttime,
online or rotational programs. London
Business School for example has a campus in
Abu Dhabi. However, none of these institutions
appear in the QS Global 200 Business Schools
Report in their own right, as they do not
produce dedicated full-time MBAs serving
employers in the region, and so are not included
in the research.
Employers are turning to some of the long
established university-based business schools
in the region. The two schools vying for the
top spots in this region are the long-established
University of Cape Town’s Graduate School
of Business, founded in the 1960s and the
American University Cairo, established in
1919. Other South African business schools
feature prominently year-on-year, including
Stellenbosch and Witwatersrand.
The University of Stellenbosch Business School
and Suliman S Olayan School of Business at the
American University of Beirut have both shown
year-on-year improvements. After holding fifth
place for two years, the University of Stellenbosch
Business School has climbed to third place. Suliman
S Olayan School of Business, which entered the
African and Middle Eastern ratings in 2010 in
seventh place, has moved to fourth this year.
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