Presidential Future for AU Professor
Dr. Simon Sigué to take over the prestigious leadership role of the International Academy of African Business and Development, early next year
In May 2019, Dr. Simon Sigué, Professor of Marketing, Faculty of Business at Athabasca University, will transition from vice-president to president for the International Academy of African Business and Development (IAABD).
The IAABD formed in 1998, and is an international organization that fosters functional education, deepens global understanding of various challenges African businesses face, and advances solutions to Africa’s business and economic challenges.
Here is a list of just a few of the many academic and professional achievements Sigué has acquired or is currently a part of, in addition to his elected IAABD role: currently is Professor Extraordinaire at Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa; received Best Ph.D. Thesis Award at HEC Montréal; is the former editor of Journal of African Business; and serves on editorial boards of Cameroon Management Review, and Journal of Marketing Channels.
“I have been in several positions with IAABD since I joined in 2002,” Sigué says. “Being in the executive group over the last six years, it felt like a natural path, when the current president moved, that I should move up.”
In 2011, Sigué co-chaired the IAABD’s annual conference at Athabasca University in Edmonton with fellow AU colleagues Dr. Meenal Shrivastava and Dr. Jacob Musila.
“It was a big success; We had Ms. Iris Evans, Alberta Minister of International and Intergovernmental Relations at that time, in attendance and ambassadors from different African countries like South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya,” Sigué says. “Several AU colleagues and students were also involved.”
Sigué has two main goals once he takes the helm at IAABD in May 2019. One is to make the organization more inclusive—recruiting and informing the public better to help equally balance memberships of those originating from Africa and those from other parts of the world.
His second area of focus will be to help increase research capacity in African universities.
“My goals are to find ways of organizing workshops that will help train some of our colleagues in African universities to become skilled researchers, and also to develop research partnerships with colleagues all over the world.”
Nineteen years ago, Journal of African Business was created by the IAABD in response to the lack of academic publications interested in publishing African business research.
Sigué says the journal has done very well. It is on the ABDC and ABS accredited lists of journals and was recently added to the Emerging Source Citation Index (ESCI).
He proudly notes that he was the editor-in-chief of African Business Journal for the last nine years and doesn’t think he’d ever have such an opportunity without being part of the IAABD.
“I feel humbled and honoured for being elected president of the International Academy of African Business and Development. I am confident that with the support of other elected executives and members, including my colleagues here at AU, I will be able to lead IAABD to new achievements.”
