By Shayo Imologome

USB Alumni Association Chair: West Africa Chapter

I take it to be a great pleasure and privilege to write this edition’s leading letter. I assumed the role of USB Alumni Chair: West Africa Chapter earlier this year and it has been an interesting and exciting journey since then.

The USB Alumni Association has been a pillar of support to its members in the areas of networking for business growth and learning, and this has translated into positive awareness for the school as a whole. I must state here that most of what we have been able to achieve so far has been due to the hard work and dexterity of our executive team who have worked tirelessly to see that the association remains vibrant and relevant.

Our most recent event was the Alumni networking session held in September this year that was part of the MBA week, which was held by the USB in conjunction with the Lagos Business School, where we had a very successful meeting. We were also privileged to have Dr Nthabiseng Moleko all the way from South Africa present a paper titled, “Grow Africa: The use of Development Finance to re-ignite the Economy”.  It was also nice receiving some of the current MBA students from the USB who were in Nigeria for the MBA week.

Nation building is a collective responsibility and if Africa must rise it will require the efforts and contributions of professionals and industry leaders. The USB Alumni Association presents a great opportunity to positively contribute to thought leadership from the dissemination of ideas and contributions made at some of our meetings. Excerpts and key conclusions from the September Alumni meet up were featured in two major newspapers in Nigeria – Business Day Online and The Guardian.

Our plans for the future are to continue to build and strengthen the bond between all alumni members through our networking events, we also hope to bring on board new alumni members who have recently concluded various programmes at USB. Our future events will incorporate more projects surrounding corporate social responsibility as well as increased visibility in thought leadership.

Education and youth empowerment are also critical issues for concern and providing a forum to help to the youths is imperative if we must build capacity for strong future leadership. Focus will also be given to providing support in these areas through career talks, which we hope to commence next year.

In summary this great Alumni Association has been as much enlightening as it has been enjoyable, being part of a system that provides feedback to society in various capacities is a privilege and I look forward to meeting more of the great members of this association as well as doing even greater exploits!

To your future success!

Shayo Imologome

USB Alumni Association Chair: West Africa Chapter