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CWG Boss Gives Commencement Speech @ CEIBS Graduation
The choice of Austin Okere to give the keynote address for the 2012 graduating class at the fourth Executive MBA graduation ceremony of the China Europe International Business School’s Africa Programme at Accra mid-July came as no surprise.
Okere, founder and CEO of the highly successful Computer Warehouse Group, in addition to being a shining example of entrepreneurial success in Africa, has left significant academic footprints in his trial.
He was quite recently appointed as an Entrepreneur in Residence by Columbia Business School, New York.
Okere, guest lectures at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston as well as the Lagos Business School in Nigeria and the United States International University in Kenya.
He has also facilitated the Lean Launch Pad Block Week with serial entrepreneurs Steve Blank and Bob Dorf, co-authors of the bestselling Start-up Owner’s Manual.
The China Europe International business School, established in 1994 as a non-profit joint venture between the European Commission and the Chinese Government has risen to become one of the best Business Schools in the world today, having made the Financial Times Top 30 worldwide for eight consecutive years.
Professor Pedro Nueno, President of CEIBS, who gave the opening remarks, has also been instrumental to setting up five other Business Schools including IESE in Spain, IAE in Argentina, AESE in Portugal, and IPADE in Mexico.
Over the last few decades, Western business schools have increasingly turned their sights on Africa, with dozens of leading schools launching faculty-exchange programs, sending classes on tours of sub-Saharan Africa, and forging partnerships with local schools.
Now a handful of European, Asian, and U.S. schools are taking their involvement in the African management education scene a step further, setting up their own campuses, helping the continent’s emerging economies develop executive MBA and other degree programs, and setting up academic research centers.
The efforts come at a time when the management education scene in Africa has started to heat up, spurred by a growing middle class that is demanding a more Western-style business school experience, said Guy Pfefferman, chief executive officer of the Global Business School Network, a nonprofit formed by the International Finance Corp. to improve the quality of business education in emerging markets.
Making his remarks, Professor Kwaku Atuahene-Gima executive director of the CEIBS Africa Programme noted that CEIBS opened its Ghana program in 2009, conferring a CEIBS degree with no local academic partner, a distinction he claims sets it apart from most Western schools that have entered Africa.
The first executive MBA class enrolled in March of 2009, with 30 students from Ghana and 10 from Nigeria. This fourth cohort graduated 28 students.
The two-year program costs students around $30,000 dollars, about half of what the same degree would cost outside the continent, Atuahene-Gima said.
There are clearly other advantages of pursuing a local Executive MBA degree; for a start, there is no requirement for a long leave of absence where a return to the job may not be guaranteed.
Moreover, Executive MBA students on the continent maintain the local context in the course of their business study, as well as build the necessary network of contacts that may well be relatively more relevant in the course of their careers.
The rash of business schools into Africa is not without its skeptics though.
According to Walter Baets, Director of the University Of Cape Town Graduate School Of Business, it seems Africa, must brace itself for another wave of colonisation.
This time he contends, it is “western-style” business schools that, after ignoring Africa for decades, are now flocking to its shores with enthusiasm.
Almost without exception, these incoming schools talk about bringing pre-existing European/US models to Africa as if this will be the answer to all of the continent’s problems.
None, it seems, has paused to consider whether Africa really will benefit from what they are offering, or if they are missing an opportunity to create something better. We can achieve more by working together and respecting multiple perspectives than we can by merely replicating past models in new contexts Mr. Baets contended.
There are currently no business schools in sub-Saharan Africa that are accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), one of the leading accreditation agencies, said Jerry Trapnell, AACSB’s vice-president and chief accreditation officer. In West Africa, only two Business Schools have international accreditations: CEIBS through EQUIS and the Lagos Business School through IESE.
Okere’s key message, aptly titled‘this is our time’, highlighted entrepreneurship opportunities in Africa and the need to urgently equip ourselves to take full advantage.
According to Okere “It is better to have a thousand millionaires than ten billionaires. It is better still to have a million people with access to a hundred thousand dollars, if they can be taught how to nurture and grow it through entrepreneurial endeavor”. He continued, “I like to put the story of the Computer Warehouse Group out there because such success stories contribute immensely to the attraction of capital to the region, which combined with the entrepreneurial acumen and the youthful population unleashes waves of economic boom”.
According to him, Africa has a rapidly growing young population, which could bring a democratic dividend if optimally tapped, or constitute a source of social unrest, if millions of Africans continue to enter the labour market without any hope of employment. Entrepreneurship, he declared, is the catalyst for economic growth as it provides the most viable vehicle for job creation.
His passion for entrepreneurial advocacy he says stems from his desire to see the Human Capital gainfully engaged through sustainable Start Ups rather than chasing non-existent jobs.
To buttress his point, Okere cited a survey of 3,692 MIT alumni who graduated between 1987 and 2007.
The survey results showed that 40% of respondents have started their own companies, with 70% doing so within five years of graduation. 41% of PhD alumni have a patent or invention.
In his view, this could not have been possible without the strong entrepreneurship education and encouragement that America offers.
He charged the fresh MBA Graduates to go out there and leave their footprints in the sands of time, having received the crucial empowerment.
Other Speakers included Mr. Gong Jianzhong, Chinese ambassador to Ghana, Mrs Mary Brown, deputy managing director of Prudential Bank/CEIBS Alumni representative, and Dr Marisa Del Pozo, Professor at Complutense University.
The Local Organising Committee of the IEEE Connecting the Unconnected Europe, Middle East, and Africa (CTU-EMEA) Summit 2025 on Wednesday paid a courtesy visit to the management of Baze University, Abuja, in preparation for the international conference scheduled to hold from Nov. 27 to 28.
The visit, which brought together top officials from IEEE Nigeria Section and senior management of Baze University, focused on finalising arrangements for the summit themed “Bridging Digital Frontiers: African Solutions for Universal Connectivity.”
Speaking during the meeting, Mr. Chukwuemeka Gerald Okafor, General Conference Chair, described the summit as a historic milestone for Nigeria’s digital transformation agenda.
“This is the first time Nigeria is hosting an IEEE CTU international summit of this magnitude. Over 200 global leaders—ministers, regulators, CEOs, and innovators—will converge in Abuja to address the challenge of connecting 2.9 billion unconnected people worldwide,” Okafor said.
He disclosed that high-profile speakers had confirmed participation, including government ministers, representatives of the World Bank and International Telecommunication Union (ITU), telecom executives, and researchers from across the EMEA region.
Also speaking, Prof. Osita, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academics), who represented the Vice Chancellor of Baze University, expressed the institution’s readiness to host the summit.
“We are honoured that IEEE selected Baze University as the venue for this prestigious event. It aligns with our vision of becoming a hub for technology innovation and global academic collaboration,” Osita said.
The summit programme includes an opening ceremony with ministerial presence, eight technical tracks, panel discussions, paper presentations, workshops, and an exhibition area for technology companies and startups.
Social events such as a Welcome Cocktail on Nov. 26 and a Gala Dinner on Nov. 28 are also planned to foster networking and collaboration.
Ms. Nneoma Offodile, Chair of the Local Organising Committee, said the summit would leave a lasting legacy for Nigerian students, especially those at Baze University.
“There will be volunteer opportunities, discounted registration, and exposure to global experts. We want students to benefit directly from this gathering,” she said.
The meeting also addressed logistical arrangements including venue setup, technology infrastructure, catering, accommodation, and security for international delegates.
IEEE, founded in 1884, is the world’s largest technical professional organisation with over 423,000 members globally. Its CTU programme focuses on bridging the digital divide through research, innovation, and stakeholder engagement.
Engr. Abdulateef Aliyu, IEEE Region 8 Representative, said the summit affirms Nigeria’s capacity to host world-class events and positions the country as a strategic hub for technology discourse in Africa.
The organising committee called on Nigerian ICT professionals, telecom operators, corporate sponsors, researchers, and students to participate actively in the summit.
Prof. Ifeayinwa Achumba, IEEE Nigeria Section Chair, said the summit would showcase scalable African solutions to global connectivity challenges.
Follow-up meetings are scheduled to finalise technical details and coordinate logistics ahead of the November event.
Over 65 million Nigerians were reportedly pushed into poverty in 2024 following a 66 per cent decline in the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, according to a new report by Quartus Economics.
The report, titled “Forty Years of Structural Adjustment: Is Africa’s Eagle Stuck or Soaring Back to Life?”, examined Nigeria’s economic trajectory since the introduction of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) in 1986.
Quartus noted that while the reforms helped grow Nigeria’s GDP from $87.5 billion in 1990 to $252 billion in 2024, the country’s economic structure remained fragile, with the naira losing 99.7 per cent of its value over the same period.
The report stated that liberalisation, privatisation, and banking reforms initially boosted private investment and manufacturing, but policy reversals and weak implementation undermined progress.
“Policy inconsistencies and weak implementation led to a recurring cycle of mixed results and missed opportunities,” the report said. “The goal of inclusive, export-led growth has remained elusive.”
Between 2014 and 2023, Nigeria experienced its worst growth slowdown in a generation, driven by falling oil prices, population pressures, restrictive fiscal and monetary policies, and governance lapses. Inflation rose above 30 per cent, capital inflows declined, and economic stagnation persisted.
However, the report praised the 2023–2024 reforms, including the removal of petrol and foreign exchange subsidies, as decisive measures that began correcting structural distortions.
By late 2024, GDP growth rebounded to nearly 4 per cent, with renewed strength in the manufacturing and mining sectors. Foreign reserves rose to $42 billion by October 2025, and inflation began to ease slightly.
Despite these improvements, Quartus warned that per capita income remains far below pre-crisis levels and that Nigeria’s export base and governance systems still face deep inefficiencies.
“The recovery is real, but lasting transformation will depend on discipline, continuity, and collective commitment to reform,” the report concluded.
At the Security Analyst Summit in Thailand, Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT) unveiled the latest BlueNoroff APT activity through two highly targeted malicious campaigns ‘GhostCall’ and ‘GhostHire’. The ongoing operations have been targeting Web3 and cryptocurrency organisations across India, Turkiye, Australia and other countries in Europe and Asia since at least April 2025.
BlueNoroff, a subdivision of the notorious Lazarus group, continues to expand its signature ‘SnatchCrypto’ campaign, a financially motivated operation which targets crypto industries worldwide. The newly described GhostCall and GhostHire campaigns employ new infiltration techniques and customised malware to compromise blockchain developers and executives. These attacks affect macOS and Windows systems as primary targets and are managed through a unified command-and-control infrastructure.
The GhostCall campaign focuses on macOS devices, beginning with a highly sophisticated and personalised social engineering attack. The attackers reach out via Telegram, impersonating venture capitalists and in some cases using compromised accounts of real entrepreneurs and startup founders to promote investment or partnership opportunities. The victims are invited to fake investment meetings on phishing sites mimicking Zoom or Microsoft Teams during which they are prompted to “update” their client to fix an audio issue, this action downloads a malicious script and deploys a malware infection on the device.
“This campaign relied on deliberate and carefully planned deception. Attackers replayed videos of previous victims during staged meetings to make the interaction appear like a real call and manipulate new targets. The data collected in this process is then used not only against the initial victim but also exploited to enable subsequent and supply-chain attacks, leveraging established trust relationships to compromise a broader range of organisations and users,” comments Sojun Ryu, security researcher at Kaspersky GReAT.
Attackers deployed seven multi-stage execution chains, four which were previously unseen, to distribute a range of new customised payloads, including crypto stealers, browser credential stealers, secrets stealer, and Telegram credential stealers.
In the GhostHire campaign the APT targets blockchain developers by posing as recruiters. Victims are tricked into downloading and running a GitHub repository containing malware, presented as a skill assessment. GhostHire shares its infrastructure and tools with the GhostCall campaign, but instead of using video calls, it focuses on approaching hands-on developers and engineers through fake recruitment. After initial contact, victims are added to a Telegram bot that delivers either a ZIP file or a GitHub link, along with a short deadline to complete the task. Once executed, the malware installs itself on the victim’s machine, customised for the operating system.
The use of generative AI has enabled BlueNoroff to accelerate malware development and refine its attack techniques. The attackers introduced new programming languages and added additional features, complicating detection and analysis tasks. It further enables the actor to manage and expand its operations, increasing both the complexity and scale of attacks.
“Since its previous campaigns, the threat actor’s targeting strategy has evolved beyond simple cryptocurrency and browser credential theft. The use of generative AI has significantly accelerated this process, enabling easier malware development with reduced operational overhead.
“This AI-driven approach helps to fill the gaps in available information, enabling more focused targeting. By combining compromised data with AI’s analytical capabilities, the scope of these attacks has expanded. We hope our research will contribute to preventing further harm,” comments Omar Amin, senior security researcher at Kaspersky GReAT.
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