East Africa: Kenyan Market for Masters in Business Administration grows

Experts say the increasing interest in MBAs is fuelled by the desire of students and young executives to boost their careers and get better pay in a market where salaries have not kept pace with inflation. "As a growing economy Kenya needs highly qualified skills, and the labour market is becoming very competitive thus requiring the working class to upgrade their educational qualifications to remain relevant," said Mary Odhiambo, a management expert in Nairobi.

The traditional players in the MBA market - the University of Nairobi and Kenyatta University, the biggest higher education institutions in the country - attract the largest MBA classes. Upcoming, smaller public universities have also joined the ranks, heightening competition in the field. Institutions are also rushing to roll out differentiated degrees, with some such as Strathmore University sending students abroad for periods for training. Others are snapping up CEOs and managing directors of leading companies to teach in MBA classes.
 
Earlier this year Inoorero University, a private institution recently given approval to become a fully-fledged university, launched an Executive MBA program in conjunction with Copenhagen Business School Centre for Continuing Education - only three months after KCA University enrolled its first class for a corporate MBA.

Experts on education say the growth in the MBA market is also fuelled by demand from the employers. Companies seeking human capital prefer MBA graduates for management positions. Peter Njeru, an MBA student at the University of Nairobi who works for a local bank, said he went back to school for two reasons. "First, everyone else in the office has an undergraduate degree so you have to get an extra qualification to be different career-wise. Two, MBA graduates in the office seem to be the ones getting the promotions."

With the demand for MBA degrees rising, universities are spending heavily on advertising their courses. They are spending money to make money - public universities have been forced to supplement their income through high-fee courses such as MBAs, as their state subsidies have declined. The growth in the MBA market comes at a time when Kenya's universities are grappling with an admissions crisis due to growing student numbers, which have not been matched by expansion of facilities. As a result, quality concerns dog the higher education sector.