Africa Business and BYU Pathway Project

KENYA, BOTSWANA, ZIMBABWE, SOUTH AFRICA

Experience successful business models in Kenya, Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa, while working directly with BYU Pathway students to help build a successful business in South Africa. This will be your opportunity to develop your own skills in business while contributing to creating jobs for BYU Pathway students. This study abroad program is a hybrid between a regular study abroad program in international business and an international development consulting project. This program is available to students in all majors, both inside and outside of the Marriott School of Business.

BYU Pathway Consulting Project Element:
Student teams will spend two weeks in Johannesburg, South Africa, working with local and global business leaders, including the BYU Management Society, to help BYU Pathway Worldwide students start and improve their local business ventures. We are interested in students with a passion to learn from local businesses in Africa and apply those learnings to collaboratively identify customers and marketing needs, develop a business strategy, build financial and accounting models, identify sourcing and supply chain opportunities, and manage a local workforce. Before leaving for Africa, we will spend the second half of winter semester 2027 in a once-a-week evening class working with these BYU Pathway students online to prepare for our in-country experience. Students from a variety of backgrounds and majors will be needed for each team to work on diverse projects.

Study Abroad Program Element:
Successful business models in Africa will be studied and examined at the beginning of the trip, starting with a week in Nairobi, Kenya, known as the Silicon Savannah. Nairobi will offer us insight into the one of Africa’s top technology and startup hubs. Here we will also visit Mully Children’s Family (MCF), established by former Kenyan entrepreneur and millionaire Charles Mulli and his wife Esther to help care for thousands of street children. We will then fly to Botswana to see how one of the poorest countries transformed itself into one of the richest countries in Africa by investing in diamond discovery, strong governance, and careful financial management. We’ll also spend time in Cape Town, South Africa, the top hub for ease of doing business. Cape Town leads Africa in technology, finance, and corporate headquarters. It also provides an interesting cultural context for learning about Apartheid and the history of South Africa. We will finish the trip with a safari, a game drive, and a visit to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.

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