VID Colloquium
Brand Africa and Sustainable Development: A Critical Assessment of the Role of Human Capital
Penelope Muzanenhamo, Warwick Business School, The University of Warwick
Date: Fri, 15 Mar. 2013, Time: 10:00-11:00 am
Human capital, place brands and sustainable development are seldom, if at all, analysed in synthesis. Yet these concepts have a few common dimensions, with their people centeredness being an underlying unification aspect. Analysing Brand Africa, our work demonstrates the linkages between human capital, place brands and sustainable development. We postulate, based on the investigation of on- and offline discourses related to Africa and policies and practices of governments at different levels of authority across the continent, that Brand Africa is a complex representation of an amalgamation of perceptions about African leadership and people and their economic, socio-cultural and political achievements and performances within a global system. We proceed to claim that the capabilities and competencies of African leaders and people are crucial to the sustainable development of their continent. Thus investment in the provision of education as a key component of human capital becomes pivotal to the progress of Africa on a sustainable basis. Our work however raises more questions than answers. The central questions we draw attention to relate to the form of education ‘suitable’ for the development needs of Africa and its people: Is Africa unique and if so, does its uniqueness presume a distinctive model of education? Despite substantial national and donor investment in human capital development in Africa, why is Brand Africa less competitive internationally? We tap into our research findings to critically evaluate and develop tentative answers to the above stated questions, focusing in particular on the relationship between ‘needs’ and ‘effectiveness’ in the specific context of national and regional development goals in a globalising world.
About the presenter:
Penelope Muzanenhamo is a Doctoral Researcher at Warwick Business School (WBS), who is inquiring into the role of Brand Africa in facilitating sustainable development. Her research is supervised by Dr. David Arnott (Marketing Group, WBS) and Professor Franklyn Lisk (Center for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation) both at the University of Warwick. Recently, Penelope was invited by the Harvard Business School – Africa Business Conference 2013 to share her research findings through e-learning. She has also presented her research at a number of conferences, including the Academy of Marketing Conference Liverpool 2011, where her work won the best Track Paper Award. Penelope has also framed her research into a case study that has been taught to WBS undergraduate students in a pioneering Case Teaching Project launched by the School in 2012. She has also given a lecture on her research topic at the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy Berlin, July 2012, and is scheduled to participate on two international teaching programmes (in Prague, Czech and Monash, Australia) where she will discuss her research further. Penelope also teaches/has taught on a number of modules at Warwick Business School.