Tuck Africa Ambassador Program
During March 2010, a team of Tuck students traveled to South Africa with Professor Phil Stocken. The team visited Johannesburg, Cape Town, and beyond, and learned about the business environment, social entrepreneurship opportunities, Black Economic Empowerment, and the role of business people in addressing social challenges such as poverty, inequality, and HIV/AIDS.
The team visited several companies including South African Breweries, (the South African subsidiary and historical birthplace of SABMiller plc, one of the world’s largest brewers by volume with more than 200 brands), Standard Bank (Africa’s largest bank) and MTN (Africa’s largest and most successful mobile telecommunications company). The team also experienced a day in the life of a gold miner at Gold Fields – one of the world’s largest unhedged producers of gold with attributable production of 3.6 million ounces per annum from nine operating mines in South Africa, Ghana, Australia and Peru.
They also visited the ‘township’ area including Nelson Mandela's old home, the Hector Pietersen Apartheid Museum as well as Robben Island, where Mandela was imprisoned for more nearly 3 decades. And of course a trip to Africa wouldn’t have been complete without a safari!
Nine prospective MBAs (T'09s and T'10s) travelled to Africa for Tuck's first official trek to Kenya, which was organized by the Tuck Africa Club. During the trip several meeting were held with various captains of industry in consumer goods, real estate, hospitality, financial services and capital markets. The Kenya frontier market is well on its way to becoming an emerging market and this was evident from the diverse entrepreneurial activities seen.
During the trek we held Tuck's first informational event in Africa for prospective students and with the fabulous company visits done, we still had time to squeeze in some fun. After all, Tuckies are know for working hard and playing even harder. During the trip we managed to arrange an african game safari to the Masaai Mara to see the big five-elephant, buffalo, rhino, leopard and lion and at Lake Nakuru we saw several flamingoes. At Mombasa we went for some pleasure in the sun, scuba diving, jet skiing, and dining on a restaurant ship (Tamarind Dhow).
Overall this was a memorable trip! We will always remember the sights, sounds, cuisine, and hospitality of the Kenyan people as can be seen from the video below which was made shoot during the trip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urTy8vflgHQ