Two African Students win scholarships to Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford

Oxford, Oxfordshire (PRWEB UK) 6 May 2014

Samkelisiwe Peter from South Africa has been awarded the ‘Dean’s Scholarship for Nationals from African countries,’ funded by Professor Peter Tufano, Dean of Saїd Business School, and his wife Mary Jeanne Tufano.

Sam, who works in corporate finance, was delighted to receive the scholarship which provides part funding for the one-year MBA programme. ‘Winning the scholarship is an honour that allows me to fulfil a dream of studying at Oxford,’ he said. ‘Taking an MBA at this stage in my career will enable me to tap into the school’s strengths in private equity and put me on the right path to making a transition into this sector. My ultimate goal is to establish a private equity fund in South Africa investing in developing regions across the whole continent. Through this I aim to build scalable cross-continent companies which holistically impact the economies and people in the regions in which they operate.’

Peter Tufano said: ‘The African continent holds incredible opportunities that are driving economic growth. Yet it also faces some of the most challenging problems in the world that will require strong vision and leadership. The scholarship to the Oxford MBA programme is aimed at ambitious young professionals who are committed to change initiatives that will support the continent’s growth and raise the quality of life for many of its citizens. I am delighted that my wife and I are able to help support Sam - and I am committed to finding other donors who can help the School welcome a large contingent of future African leaders.’

Andrea Maitre Warriner, who works in strategic planning for a human resources for health NGO in Johannesburg, won a Saïd Foundation Scholarship which provides part funding to nationals of developing countries. She plans to return to South Africa after the MBA to start a not-for-profit strategic consultancy, initially in the public health sector, with a focus on organisational development and the leadership of people. ‘Building on my experience as a consultant at McKinsey and my experience in public health, my goal is to tackle the issue of how individuals and teams need to behave in their context if longer term developmental change in Africa is to be successful. The reputation of the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship positions Saïd as the leading business school in this field, but I’m also looking forward to refining and building on my plans and to develop my broader business skills in areas such as operations management.’

A third scholarship is to be offered to an African student after the stage 5 applications have been completed.

The school has invited the two African scholarship winners to attend the Oxford Africa Conference on 23-24 May 2014. Co-presented by the student-led Oxford Business Network for Africa at Saїd Business School and the Oxford University Africa Society, the event brings together leading African political, business and cultural figures to explore the most critical African issues of the day on the theme of ‘African Transformations.’ The scholars will not only have the opportunity to gain valuable insight from some of Africa’s most distinguished community and business leaders at the event, they will also pick up the reigns from the current student team to organise next year’s conference.

While in Oxford, the scholarship winners will be staying in their chosen college at the University and join the growing community of students and alumni with an interest in Africa. They will be filming their experiences and sharing their insights, hopes and ambitions for their MBA year and beyond.

For more information, to speak with Sam or Andrea or to see the scholars films, please contact the press office:

Clare Fisher, Head of Public Relations, Saïd Business School
Mobile: +44 (0)7912 771090; Tel: +44 (0) 1865 288968
Email: clare(dot)fisher(at)sbs(dot)ox(dot)ac(dot)uk

Josie Powell, Press Officer
Mobile +44 (0)7711 387215; Tel: +44 (0) 1865 288403
Email: josie(dot)powell(at)sbs(dot)ox(dot)ac(dot)uk or pressoffice(at)sbs(dot)ox(dot)ac(dot)uk

Notes to editors

Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford blends the best of new and old. We are a vibrant and innovative business school, but yet deeply embedded in an 800 year old world-class university. We create programmes and ideas that have global impact. We educate people for successful business careers, and as a community seek to tackle world-scale problems. We deliver cutting-edge programmes and ground-breaking research that transform individuals, organisations, business practice, and society. We seek to be a world-class business school community, embedded in a world-class University, tackling world-scale problems.

In the Financial Times European Business School ranking (Dec 2013) Saïd is ranked 12th. It is ranked 13th worldwide in the FT’s combined ranking of Executive Education programmes (May 2013) and 23rd in the world in the FT ranking of MBA programmes (Jan 2014). The MBA is ranked 5th in Businessweek’s full time MBA ranking outside the USA (Nov 2012) and is ranked 5th among the top non-US Business Schools by Forbes magazine (Sep 2013). The Executive MBA is ranked 23rd worldwide in the FT’s ranking of EMBAs (Oct 2013). The Oxford MSc in Financial Economics is ranked 6th in the world in the FT ranking of Masters in Finance programmes (Jun 2013). In the UK university league tables it is ranked first of all UK universities for undergraduate business and management in The Guardian (Jun 2013) and has ranked first in nine of the last ten years in The Times (Sept 2013). For more information, see http://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/

ENDS

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