Business schools can hear the call of Africa. The IMF forecasts that the sub-Saharan African region will enjoy growth of 6 per cent in 2014. But there is a dearth of management expertise – even though there appears to be a healthy demand for acquiring it.

Overseas business schools interested in expanding their reach will have noticed data from the Graduate Management Admission Council that show 5,490 GMAT tests were taken in the African region in 2012-2013 – more than in eastern Europe and only about a thousand fewer than in Canada and Latin America respectively.

“We believe that Africa is a very dynamic economic environment. It’s the fastest-growing market in the world,” says Annette Nijs, executive director of Ceibs’ global initiative.

However, the different ways some overseas business schools are responding to that fast-growing market are in some cases inspiring deep resentment and accusations of neo-colonialism and exploitation.

Jon Foster-Pedley, dean of Henley Business School Africa, based in Johannesburg, says that a few years ago there was a crackdown on the fly-in, fly-out business school model many overseas business schools were adopting to gain a feel for the African market. There had been a feeling that some operators were cynically capitalising on the emerging world. “What you have to do if you want to operate here is play by the rules,” he says.

Nonetheless, there is a need for management education in Africa.

Read the full article on the Financial Times website.