Student Market & Student Mobility in Sub-Saharan Africa – Strategies for Marketers

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The ICEF Dubai Workshop – 2013

Student Market & Student Mobility in Sub-Saharan Africa – Strategies for Marketers

By Dr. Patrick Nkhoma (Ph D Econ) AMAIN, MIOD

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Table of Contents Introduction

Why Africa? Identifying Good Agents & Keeping Them

Working with Good Schools & Career Guidance Teachers

Relationship Building in International Education Conclusion



Introduction

In my presentation, I will summarise why Africa should be on top of the list of investment destinations for institutions of higher learning that are serious about significantly increasing the levels of international student enrolments

I will use Zambia as a case study to discuss proven key strategies for marketers of colleges and universities

I will also illustrate how to identify and keep good agents in Africa as well as strategies to establish partnerships with local secondary schools that result in significant and sustainable international student enrolments



Why Africa? Why Africa? You might ask! While everyone has been focused on the

phenomenal success of the BRIC nations, Africa has been quietly emerging as a real growth story

Consider the following facts: Africa is home to a host of fast growing

economies - over the 10yrs to 2010, 6 of the world’s 10 fastest-growing economies were in sub-Saharan Africa (The Economist)



Why Africa? The IMF forecasts that Africa will grab 7 of

the top 10 places over the next 5 yrs. In other words, the average African economy will outpace its Asian counterpart 11 African countries are now growing by

more than 7% annually, more than in East Asia. Many are poised to break through the 10% annual growth rate where economies really lift off



Why Africa? Secondary school enrolment is now at

29% across sub-Saharan Africa, compared with around 3% in the 1960s

Africa is one of the few places in the world

with a rising labour force. Even Asia is facing steep demographic decline.



Why Africa? The number of middle class Africans has

tripled over the last 30 years to 313 million people, or more than 34% of the continent’s population, according to a new report from the African Development Bank This phenomenal rise in Africa’s middle

class makes Africa a ‘gold mine’ for marketers from universities and colleges hunting for international students.



Why Africa? The majority of Africa’s population is below

the age of 30 years The 2011, Africa Youth Report by the

United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) states that over 70% of the African population are youths making Africa a marketing haven for education



Why Africa?

Most of Africa is English speaking with the majority of countries using English as their official language – students from Africa, especially the southern part of Africa i.e. Zambia, Malawi, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe, are low maintenance



If you want to grow your wealth as a college or university – Africa is the place to be!!



Identifying Good Agents and Keeping Them

Research shows a significant growth in the number of schools, colleges and universities using agents to recruit overseas students. The majority of Zambian students,

numbering thousands per year, recruited for overseas colleges and universities are recruited through agents based in Zambia




To reach the positive results achieved by agents in Zambia, it is critically important to identify good quality agents and to develop strategies to keep them. Qualities of a good agent: a capacity to work effectively with foreign

based institutions of learning



Qualities of a good agent the ability to improve knowledge and

understanding of the study destination the ability to increase knowledge of study

programmes the ability to provide high quality

information, resources and services to students seeking an international education



Qualities of a good agent

skills and resources needed to provide relevant, accurate and trustworthy information they should be financially sound.

Vetting of agents is of critical importance




Another important consideration when identifying agents is to avoid dealing with or appointing too many agents in the same market A few good quality agents are more

effective and yield better results



Working with Good Schools and Career Guidance Teachers

Good quality agents identify good local schools with excellent potential for providing a sustainable source of students for recruitment When marketers from colleges and

universities come into the country, it should be mandatory that their agent facilitates their visit to at least one school



Relationship Building in International Education

Relationship marketing is a broadly recognized, widely-implemented strategy for managing and nurturing an organisation’s interactions with clients and sales prospects.



Relationship Building in International Education

The Zambian experience has also shown that it is critically important for colleges and universities in partnership with agents, to develop a long term relationship with local schools that are a good source of students for recruitment.



Relationship Building Strategies in Zambia:

Each college or university develops a database showing which high schools have provided them with the highest number of students and then provides them with scholarships for the best performing students




When students succeed at college or university, the college or university takes back their success story to the high school where they came from to inspire others and strengthen the relationship with the high school




Identify high performing, disadvantaged students at the high school and offer them a scholarship perhaps once every three years.



Important Points Africa will lead the world in economic growth over the next 5 years

Africa is a ‘gold mine’ for marketers from universities and colleges hunting for international students

Vetting of agents is of critical importance

Quality agents will connect you to quality schools and career guidance teachers

Relationship building is critically important for long term sustainability



Conclusion

Africa has been identified as the second largest market source of international students.

Institutions around the world have started

to enter and compete in the marketplace



Conclusion

The on-going competition in the market should now alert international education providers all around the world to be more enlightened and educated about the African market, and how to approach the market in order to achieve successful student recruitment.



Conclusion From the poorest of countries to the

richest of nations, education is the key to moving forward in any society. In the famous words of the great Nelson

Mandela, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Let us educate Africa to change Africa.



Good News!!!

Africa presents a huge, largely untapped market – move in now and enjoy super profits!!!
