UConn’s Executive MBA (EMBA) students traveled to Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa as part of Robin Coulter‘s Global Business Issues course. South Africa, a diverse and emerging global market, serves as the gateway to much of the African continent. Students visited an array of businesses addressing topics such as direct investment, banking, business ownership, business challenges and opportunities. Highlights included:

“Investing in South Africa: High Risk or High Return?”
Mteto Nyati, Managing Director, Microsoft

“Retail Strategies for Low-Income Populations”
Suzanne Ackerman-Berman, Transformation Director, Pick n Pay

“Building a Successful Business in South Africa”
Tony Gerrans, CEO, Grotto

While in South Africa, students visited important historical and cultural sites including the Soweto Township; Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela served his prison term for his campaign against the Apartheid regime; and the Apartheid Museum, which illustrates the rise and fall of apartheid, the system of racial segregation that blighted much of South Africa’s progress for half a century.

Students returned equipped with new knowledge and insights, having visited with executives from an array of companies and industries. “Understanding the history and culture of a country in which you conduct business is critical,” Noel Petrolati ’16 EMBA observed. “I knew it was important, but to see and experience South Africa’s turbulent past and to see its economic development was enlightening.”