News & Highlights

  • AUGUST 2024
  • ALUMNI EVENT

Alumni Event with Prof. John Macomber in Dakar

In August 2024, the ARC Executive Director joined Professor John Macomber on an Africa immersion to Dakar, Senegal. During the visit, Prof. Macomber engaged with business leaders, corporates, Harvard alumni and other stakeholders to gain insights into the local business environment. The HBS Africa Research Center in collaboration with the HBS Business and Environment Initiative hosted an in-person Alumni event on Climate Adaptation and Urban Economic Development led by Prof. Macomber. The event saw over 20 attendees engage in a lively discussion.
  • AUGUST 2024
  • ALUMNI EVENT

Alumni Dinner with Prof. Ebehi Iyoha in Lagos

In August 2024, the HBS Association of Nigeria (HBSAN) hosted a dinner in Lagos, Nigeria to honour Ebehi Iyoha, Assistant Professor in the Entrepreneurial Management Unit at Harvard Business School. This dinner marked the conclusion of Professor Iyoha’s visit to Lagos, during which she conducted in-depth case study interviews with senior executives of select companies and engaged in strategic discussions regarding future case collaborations. The evening was highlighted by high-level networking and a shared commitment to advancing entrepreneurial excellence in Africa. Members of the HBSAN and ARC in attendance, expressed their gratitude for Professor Iyoha’s contributions and looked forward to the valuable case studies that would result from her visit.
  • May 2024
  • FIELD Global Immersion (FGI)

Reception and Dinner with Prof. Hakeem I. Belo-Osagie in Nairobi

In May 2024, the ARC Executive Director joined Professor Hakeem I. Belo-Osagie, his students, and members of the Harvard alumni community at a reception and dinner hosted by the Harvard Club of Kenya in Nairobi. Professor Belo-Osagie and his students were in Nairobi for the FIELD Global Immersion (FGI), a first-year MBA course that enables students to learn about business in markets outside of the United States. FGI culminates in a one-week immersion in several emerging market cities around the world, including Nairobi and three other cities in Africa (Kigali, Accra, and Morocco), requiring students to build on and apply learnings from their first-year courses into real-world business problems. During the FGI in Nairobi, students engaged with business leaders, corporate leaders, and alumni to gain insights into the local business environment.
  • May 2024
  • ALUMNI EVENT

Alumni Event with Prof. Ramon Casadesus-Masanell in Johannesburg

The HBS Club of South Africa, in collaboration with HBS Executive Education and GIBS, recently hosted a successful networking event featuring a talk by Professor Ramon Casadesus-Masanell. The event coincided with Prof. Casadesus-Masanell's visit to Johannesburg for the Senior Executive Program-Africa (SEPA). Africa Research Center staff, SEPA Senior Director Philip Cacouris, and HBS Executive Education Regional Director Stephane Sinimale also attended the event.

New Research on the Region

  • March 2025
  • Teaching Material

Gavi and the 'Next' Pandemic

By: Tarun Khanna and Samir Junnarkar

  • March 2025
  • Case

GiveDirectly: Can Direct Cash Transfers End Extreme Poverty?

By: Natalia Rigol, Benjamin N. Roth, Sarah Mehta and John Schultz

Founded in 2008, GiveDirectly was a nonprofit organization that used direct cash transfers—giving people cash via mobile money—to combat poverty worldwide. By August 2024, the organization had transferred over $800 million to poor people in targeted communities and generated evidence illustrating the impact of its giving. As the cofounders considered the organization’s future, they wondered whether direct cash transfers could eradicate extreme poverty altogether. The ambitious proposal raised several questions, including how to target and optimize transfers, how to minimize negative effects on local communities, and how best to coordinate with national governments and other nonprofits. Was this goal possible?

  • February 2025
  • Case

Doing Business in Casablanca, Morocco

By: Karen G. Mills, Ahmed Dahawy and Choetsow Tenzin

This case examines the challenges and opportunities of doing business in Morocco. The case explores the various historical, cultural, and social factors that impact the business environment. It also highlights Morocco’s unique economy where cash remains a dominant player in the market despite global advancements in digitalization. This is illustrated through Chari, a Moroccan based inventory procurement app, which hopes to navigate Morocco’s fintech landscape by utilizing the country’s dense network of small mom and pop shops.

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Johannesburg Staff

Pippa Tubman Armerding
Executive Director
→ Biography
Tafadzwa Choruma
Manager for Adminstration and Progamming
Maagatha Kalavadakken
Senior Researcher

Lagos Staff

Ope Awosan
Senior Researcher

Nairobi Staff

Agnes Wairegi-Regeru
Senior Researcher