Introducing the Africa-Asia Business Partnership Forum

The Africa-Asia Business Partnership Forum is a collaborative project.

 It involves the University of Pretoria Gordon Institute of Business Science (UP-GIBS) in South Africa, Akita International University (AIU) in Japan, and Michigan State University (MSU) in the USA.

The overarching goal of the Business Partnership Forum is to develop a network of African and Asian entrepreneurs, researchers, policymakers, business, civil society and local communities. This network will serve as an innovative ecosystem of thought leadership, providing a platform for engaging in research and exchange to support co-innovation of collaborative, practicable venture schemes – while empowering young entrepreneurs.

 This empowering and innovative research project is funded by the Alliance for African Partnerships (AAP) and the Toshiba Foundation.

 In essence, the Africa-Asia Business Partnership Forum is an entrepreneurial leadership training programme. It offers a unique learning opportunity to participants who commit to entering into the new and relatively unexplored frontier of international business partnership with Asia.

Objectives

 

The forum’s objectives are to:

 

    1. Provide regular opportunities and a platform for cross-cultural exchanges and collective learning among young African and Asian entrepreneurs, supported by experts and leaders with experience in Africa-Asia partnership exchanges.
    2. Investigate and promote the empowerment of entrepreneurs through field-oriented exchanges in South Africa and Japan.
    3. Promote cogeneration of knowledge and co-innovation of collective practicable venture schemes through field-oriented exchanges in South Africa and Japan.
    4. Evaluate the effectiveness and validity of the cross-cultural and field-oriented approaches utilised in the project.

Benefits of Participating in the Forum

 

  • The opportunity to co-design and innovate collaborative business ventures through practical activities in both South Africa and Japan.
  • Exposure to different business environments in both South Africa and Japan, providing insights for further development of current entrepreneurial activities.
  • The opportunity to learn collectively – with entrepreneurs operating in different sociocultural contexts – through a hybrid platform combining virtual and in-person exchanges.
  • Mentorship (from experts and leaders with experience in Africa-Asian business partnerships exchanges) and the acquisition of applicable skills to support further development of current entrepreneurship activities
  • The opportunity to engage in practical activities (in both South Africa and Japan) designed to provide empowerment that will enable entrepreneurial innovation.