ACADEMIC PROGRAMMES
Delivering transformative learning experiences to equip tomorrow’s leaders
MBA FULL TIME
The full time MBA programme is ideally suited to students who are seeking a global approach with an African perspective, and are looking to immerse themselves in full-time study. The programme format comprises of an intensive one-year journey from mid-August to mid-May including Core Courses in Terms 1 and 2 and Electives in Terms 3 and 4.
MBA MODULAR
The Modular MBA programme is suited to students who are seeking international insights in an African and South African context and are looking to study part-time over a two year period.
Executive MBA
An authentic, and joyful executive learning experience for professionals with significant work experience who are looking to develop further as leaders.
PGDip in Management Practice
Ideal for middle managers looking to further enrich their careers, or junior managers who are ready to accelerate their development.
CEMS Master of International Management
This intensive pre-experience programme is the perfect way to upskill and prepare for the international job market.
PGDip in Development Finance
A specialised postgraduate programme that provides a comprehensive overview of the exciting and fast-growing industry of development finance.
MCom in Development Finance
Aimed at those who have a real passion for creating meaningful change and influence through development finance in Africa.
MPhil in Inclusive Innovation
This programme is for visionaries, changemakers, and individuals who want to innovate to build sustainable solutions for social, economic and environmental challenges.
PhD in Business Administration
Aimed at researchers who want to make an original contribution to theory, while also addressing practical organisational or social challenges.
About our Programmes
23 000+
Alumni worldwide68
Countries represented47
Exchange partner schools70+
Visiting academics & executives50+
years of academic excellence32
Full-time faculty members
Scholarships available
We understand that funding can be a challenge, and are committed to assisting deserving individuals by offering a number of scholarships each year.
Find out more about our scholarships and how to apply here.
Scholarships are available for the following programmes:
WHAT OUR STUDENTS SAY
Ideas Exchange
New ranking places the University of Cape Town’s MBA #7 in the world
The UCT Graduate School of Business’s MBA has ranked #7 globally and #1 in Africa in the 2024 Corporate Knights Better World MBA ranking. This recognition highlights the UCT GSB’s focus on sustainability, complex problem solving, and navigating uncertainty — a growing priority for employers and prospective students alike. With an emphasis on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the UCT GSB’s MBA prepares future leaders to drive meaningful change in a world where impact-driven business is essential.
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GSB Foundation Launches New Scholarship for Black Women
The Farai Cheryl Shonhiwa (FCS) Scholarship for African Women is a new initiative within the GSB Foundation, celebrating the legacy of Dr Farai Cheryl Shonhiwa. Designed to empower African women, this scholarship provides financial support for the full-time MBA programme at UCT Graduate School of Business. Contributions to the FCS Scholarship will help continue Farai’s vision of fostering leadership and transformative impact across the continent.
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Learning and Leading: Adele's journey through the PGDip in Management Practice
Adele De Vos-Porthen’s journey with the UCT GSB’s Postgraduate Diploma in Management Practice (PGDip MP) is a testament to the power of determination and the value of higher education. Navigating the recognition of prior learning (RPL) process, she turned potential barriers into stepping stones, embracing every learning opportunity with enthusiasm and dedication. Emerging with newfound skills, insights, and confidence, Adele not only reshaped her own personal and professional trajectory but also delivered immediate and tangible benefits to her employer.
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UCT GSB’s EMBA ranked 31st globally for Overall Satisfaction by the Financial Times
The UK’s Financial Times has ranked the UCT GSB's EMBA programme among the best in the world for alumni satisfaction in its 2024 rankings, with over 92% of alumni expressing satisfaction with their degree. This achievement places the GSB's EMBA in the FT's global Top 100 and highlights the School's dedication to delivering world-class education at the very highest levels.
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How the rules that govern our economies can change
Impact investing offers a promising solution to address the world’s social, environmental, and economic challenges. By merging financial returns with measurable positive impacts, it’s reshaping how we think about investment. However, achieving the balance between profitability and true societal impact isn't always easy. This article delves into the complexities of impact investing and how we can rethink the rules to build more sustainable economies.
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UCT GSB Welcomes Prodigy Finance's Blended Finance Programme
Prodigy Finance has launched a groundbreaking Blended Finance programme aimed at providing African students with greater access to international education. This initiative aligns with the UCT Graduate School of Business's mission to empower Africa’s future leaders, offering an innovative financing solution that breaks down financial barriers and fosters diverse, globally minded leadership across the continent.
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Three lessons for employers from the CEMS The Future-Forward Workforce report
The CEMS Master in International Management programme is a launchpad to an international career. But these careers are evolving as new generations of graduates with new attitudes and ideas are entering the workforce. We take a look at the findings of a recent CEMS workplace research report, and what it means to future leaders and their employers.
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From Botswana to South Korea: Neelo Gopolang's CEMS MIM journey
Neelo Gopolang shares her experience of embarking on the CEMS Master in International Management at the UCT Graduate School of business – from navigating global business challenges through cultural understanding to highlighting the value of learning from successful entrepreneurs and leaders in other countries.
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UCT GSB’s EMBA Programme ranks #1 in Africa in QS rankings
The UCT Graduate School of Business is proud to announce that its EMBA programme has achieved the top spot in Africa and the Middle East in the 2024 QS Executive MBA Rankings. This prestigious ranking confirms the GSB’s commitment to providing not just excellence in business education but truly transformative leadership development.
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UCT GSB's Executive MBA programme finalist in prestigious Evidence-Based Leadership Development Award
The UCT GSB’s EMBA programme was one of five finalists for the prestigious Evidence-Based Leadership Development Programme Award by the Academy of Management’s Management Education and Development Division – a testament to the UCT GSB's commitment to excellence in leadership education.
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The UCT GSB EMBA: a personal metamorphosis
Satish Antony [EMBA 2022] shared his deeply personal journey of growth and professional development through UCT Graduate School of Business's Executive MBA program, highlighting how the program broadened his horizons, challenged his assumptions, and proved the importance of self-awareness for effective leadership.
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Cassim Motala: Game Changer
As a student at the UCT Graduate School of Business, Cassim Motala (MBA, Class of 2004) helped to shape not just the structure and delivery but the ethos of the School’s MBA programme. As an alumnus, he continues to push for the programme to be as progressive and relevant as ever
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How I launched an international career with CEMS MiM
UCT Graduate School of Business alum Ntando Mdladla tells us about the School’s award-winning CEMS Master in Management specialising in International Management programme, which is designed to launch ambitious young graduates into international internships at blue-chip multinationals all over the world. The UCT GSB is the only business school in Sub-Saharan Africa to offer this course.
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How an Inclusive MBA in Cape Town inspired Tsitsi Hatendi-Mtika (MBA 2014) to Change the Finance Industry
Tsitsi Hatendi-Matika chose the MBA at the UCT GSB to help her broaden her career horizons in finance. Now it’s helping her change the industry for the better.
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UCT GSB's Executive MBA Ranked Top 4 Globally for Diversity
The latest Financial Times Executive MBA rankings have been released and the UCT Graduate School of Business’s EMBA Programme has once again made the Top 100 – the only African business school to appear on the list. Moreover, it is in the top five globally for women’s representation.
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What the UCT GSB Better World Ranking reveals about the changing role of the MBA
The UCT Graduate School of Business is firmly guided by its values, which recently resulted in a Top 40 position in the prestigious Corporate Knights Better World MBA ranking – making it a world leader in principled and impactful education
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A new model of collective business leadership and a shift to generational strategic thinking are essential to avert environmental catastrophe
New CEMS report sets out recommendations for globally responsible business leaders, educators and young professionals
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Professor Nicholas Biekpe inducted into prestigious UCT College of Fellows
Induction into the UCT College of Fellows is one of the highest accolades an academic staff member can receive. The fellowship is a reward to academic staff members for their years of commitment and dedication to their work.
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UCT GSB’s Executive MBA ranked among top 20 in the world for student satisfaction
Newest Financial Times ranking shows the Executive MBA at the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business (UCT GSB) among the best of the best in alumni satisfaction and prior work experience, making it once again the only African programme to earn a spot on the prestigious list.
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Don’t let finances get in the way of your MBA dream
Attending business school can be an expensive and time-consuming undertaking, so you need to make sure it’s aligned with your purpose and your purse. Two recent UCT GSB graduates tell us how scholarship funding helped them.
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How students can take charge of their own development through the Career Leadership Centre
UCT GSB students are empowered to navigate their own career advancement with first-class career development tools and direct contact with influential industry players and corporates keen to recruit from their ranks
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Helping African leaders stand out and stand tall
When Kurt De Bique went to university 20 years ago, he thought he wanted to be a lawyer. But a powerful interest in people and what drives them led to a career switch to HR, which has seen him make a major contribution in the boardroom – rather than courtroom.
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UCT Graduate School of Business ranked in the top 50 globally by the FT
Latest ranking of customised programmes from the Financial Times shows the University Cape Town Graduate School of Business is leading in Africa.
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In search of purpose
With people quitting their jobs in greater numbers than ever, professional executive, team and board coach George Koshy shares from his own journey of ‘purpose finding’– and how he is empowering individuals, teams and organisations to find their purpose.
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Lessons Learnt: Advice for starting your career
Not many people can say they had to choose between completing their MBA and coaching the national female volleyball team, but Sean Lewis' career journey has been anything but linear. From high school teacher to working at Africa's leading premier ICT solutions services provider, and completing his EMBA along the way, Lewis has plenty of advice to share with graduates and career changers.
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Three top tips for acing the GMAT test
There is no shortage of advice on how to prepare for the GMAT exam – the often daunting test that opens the door to the most prestigious MBA programmes around the world – but taking advice from someone who’s cracked it themselves is a good place to start.
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Top tips to ensure employees can still learn from one another in a hybrid world
Two-thirds of professionals fear that a hybrid workplace will damage their ability to learn from colleagues – global survey
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UCT GSB MBA ranks top in Africa on sustainability performance
UCT GSB MBA ranks top in Africa on sustainability performance
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Powering the continent’s growth through collaboration with entrepreneurs across Africa
EMBA alumnus Christophe Viarnaud is a man on a mission. The French national has made South Africa not only his home, but a country in which his passion for entrepreneurship and education has launched the ventures of scores of bright start-ups across the continent.
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MBA alumnus puts lockdown to good use
Steven van Rheede was part of the 2020 MBA class that, three months into the programme, quickly had to shift their studies online; it bore some unforeseen benefits, he says.
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Combining passion with purpose to improve science education for all
Bathabile Mpofu is passionate about empowering young people to become scientists, and with her business, Nkazimulo Applied Sciences, she aims to demonstrate to high school learners the beauty of science in an exciting, hands-on way.
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Can we risk our society’s future on a system that produces the leadership we experience?
The events of the past two weeks have brought into sharp focus the devastating results of selecting leaders based on popularity over other criteria. To avoid shipwrecking our country, it’s time to design a better system of stewarding our collective needs.
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UCT’s Executive MBA programme is still number one in Africa
The QS 2021 Global EMBA Rankings have ranked the UCT Graduate School of Business’ EMBA programme number one in Africa and 51st in the world. This unique degree transforms executives by putting them into a better relationship with their lived experience to focus solving the complex problems of our times.
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We need leaders and managers who have the skills and moral compass to build a just world
We need leaders and managers who have the skills and moral compass to build a just world
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Healthy workplaces are foundational for a healthy society
Business has a critical role to play in fostering diversity and inclusion and building healthier workplaces and societies in the wake of the crisis.
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Tractors may not be sexy but they offer a real solution to Africa’s challenges
As COO at Hello Tractor, a novel mobile platform that connects farmers to tractors as well as agricultural equipment, expertise and financial services, MBA alumnus Folu Okunade is working to connect under resourced farmers in emerging economies to the information age.
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UCT GSB graduate is banking on his country’s future
MCom alumnus, Mutemwa Ushewokunze, has returned to Zimbabwe after 20 years abroad, to help take the country’s banking sector to the next tech level.
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Taking the road less travelled is a choice we make
MBA alumna Mouna Akefli is not one to conform. Passionate about building a more diverse, inclusive and connected continent, she is determined to shake things up and her role as marketing manager for Ericsson in West Africa and Morocco is giving her new opportunities to do so.
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Becoming a businessperson is not a straightforward journey for all
Building business skills to improve livelihoods is increasingly being recognised as a mechanism to lift communities out of extreme poverty. But in many survivalist communities, the principles of business can clash with the existing values of the community.
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Rebuilding the SA economy more sustainably — and for greater impact
COVID-19 has devastated the economy, but it has also opened a window of opportunity for businesses to integrate smarter and more sustainable solutions into their day-to-day operations as they rebuild for the long-term.
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It is time we leave the VUCA-world behind
At the risk of drying up the book royalties of hundreds of business authors who have built their careers around it, VUCA is on its way out and a new framework has emerged to replace it.
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Gearing oneself for a post-pandemic world
Do we ever stop needing to constantly reinvent ourselves? Evan Kagan, who completed his MBA at the UCT GSB in 2010, doesn't think so. But by trusting ourselves, working with our passions, learning and connecting with others, and following the latest industry trends, he believes we can all gear ourselves for the post-pandemic world.
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