Call for Papers and Outlines of Courses

INFRA 540: Business to business and Investments Infrastructure

Apart from impacting knowledge on the theoretical and practical meaning of business operations, the generic aims of this course is to make the youth and students appreciate the essentiality to competently and professionally prepare business negotiations documents and positions (taking into consideration the context of business and investment infrastructure, i.e., business-to-business, or trade); manage business operation, assets and trade portfolios (considering their context, e.g., business-to-business; trade – bilateral, multilateral), be able to act in different capacities (e.g., at operational or strategic levels); and support business negotiations processes (through direct and indirect involvement), considering the context of such Investments and Infrastructure framework or structures.

Course content: The interactive lecture will focus on two areas: generic issues related to entrepreneurship, skills available that supports intra-Africa trade, and specific issues related to investment in infrastructure such as technology and disruptive solutions.

Accordingly, the course will dwell in detail on the following:

• Concerning imparting general knowledge on negotiations, this course, it will focus on the following:

1. Concept of Industrial Development and Investment reforms.
2. Context of Value Chain Management: agenda for Trade Facilitation
3. Essence of Industrialization and Trade Development.
4. The Trade and Industry base Facilitator and her/his traits
5. Facilitation/Negotiation skills:

• Facilitation/Negotiation philosophies or approaches to negotiations
• Facilitation/Negotiation styles
• Characteristics of a Facilitation/Negotiation
• Critical Factors of a Facilitation/Negotiation
• Facilitation/Negotiation documents.
• Facilitation/Negotiation tactics and ethics.
• Facilitation/Negotiation process:

1. Phases
2. Outcomes of Facilitation/Negotiation.

• How culture can impact Facilitation/Negotiation:

1. Types of culture in Facilitation/Negotiation
2. How culture impacts Facilitation/Negotiation
3. Culture of empowering Facilitation/Negotiation

• How economic power can impact Facilitation/Negotiation
• Concerning the specific issues related to business-to-business

NB: Facilitation/Negotiation in infrastructure investments, security and management focus mainly on lessons learnt from case studies of Facilitation/Negotiation of infrastructure investments in Africa.

MGMT 501: Project Management for Development 

Course Content: Participants will be taken through the historical development of Africa’s infrastructure and also delve into how incremental investment in infrastructure such as energy, road, water resources, digital, etc. will enhance Africa’s attainment of the SDGs. In addition, there will be an examination of key infrastructure roles in furthering intra-continental trade by developing and deepening cross-continental trade.

INFRA 817: Quality Control Practices Management 

Course Content: Quality Assurance and Quality Control are both tools which hold great value to the successful completion and sustainability of infrastructure projects. Without these two elements of professional practice in infrastructure development in Africa, there is no ensuring that infrastructure projects are built and delivered as intended. The course will therefore provide participants with insights on benefits, tools of improving quality control practices in infrastructure project development. It will also examine industry related issues such as repeated work, delayed schedules, safety hazards, etc. being fallouts of poor-quality control practices.

INFRA 750: Environmental Sustainability & Eco-Infrastructure Management 

Course Content: Environmental sustainability and eco-infrastructure encompasses the requirement to provide modern infrastructure without compromising future generation hence promotes inter-generational equity. This course will therefore provide participants with insights into the concept and practice of sustainability in construction and development. Participants will also explore the need for environmental, economic and social sustainability, and the implications for infrastructure development whilst also learning the best practices from successful sustainability initiatives, and understand the challenge of achieving sustainability in the future.

INFRA 859: Infrastructure Security and Management I 

Course Content: As critical infrastructures are put to use, threats and vulnerabilities in terms of security and standard are observed. The course will therefore equip participants with the necessary knowledge and skills set to counter these vulnerabilities through industry security and standard assurance necessary for the protection of these infrastructures. At the end of this course, participants will be to: understand the impact of threats and important of critical infrastructure protection; understand different critical infrastructures and its vulnerabilities as well as threat mitigation techniques amongst others.

FIN 811: Advanced Infrastructure Systems Management, Audit and Finance

Course Content: This course will take participants through the methods of analyzing and assessing bankable projects in Africa. By identifying bankable projects, project sponsors will be engaged in optimal risk assessment prior investment to ensure adequate and projected return on investment in such infrastructure project. Also, participants will understand the role of private finance in bridging Africa’s infrastructure deficit though Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangements such as Concessions, Build Operate and Transfer (BOT), etc. In the same vein, grey areas such as strategic and project management support required for project success will be discussed.

INFRA 964: Applied Infrastructure & Regional Economic Integration Management
Course Content: Infrastructure is key to rapid economic development and fosters integration across the region. This plays a crucial role in connectivity and bridging the different areas of the continent thus enabling investors and governments alike reap full socioeconomic benefits in Africa. This further allows countries to overcome the costly divisions integrating goods, services and factors’ markets, thus facilitating the flow of trade, capital, energy, people and ideas. This course will thus take participants through the journey of understanding the strategic role of infrastructure and leveraging same for regional economic integration.

INFRA 905: Corporate Governance and Infrastructure Leadership Management 

Course Content: Given the challenges in the today’s competitive market, to promote organization success, managers need to possess effective leadership and management skills. It is therefore essential that managers undergo special training to acquire these skills. This course will focus on developing the leadership and management skills of participants through various practical sessions.

INFRA 662: Advance Corporate Customer Service Management 

Course Content: One of the key elements in customer retention is customer service delivery. Often businesses view customer service as an ‘afterthought’ rather than build it into their business process. In this course, participants will learn how to improve customer service support and satisfaction. Participants will learn Skills, competencies and tools necessary for better customer service so that customers can derive more value from products and services offered by their company.

INFRA 758: Integrated Logistics, Transport & Distribution Management Infrastructure

Course Content: Participants will explore the new world of integrated logistics and distribution management through this course. This will cover various approaches to analyzing and managing networks that encompasses all of the chains involved in the process of making the goods and services get to the final consumer at the right time and right quantities.

INFRA 821: Critical Infrastructure Protection and Risk Assessment 

Course Content: This course will identify and examine associated risks in infrastructure investment and development in Africa including; Market, Currency, Political, etc.  whilst providing various options for investors and government agencies to hedge against such risks. There will also be a cross-jurisdictional analysis of infrastructure risk mitigation approaches adopted in the US, Australia and the United Kingdom. This will also include report analysis, project management, strategic planning, digital infrastructure management and protection of critical infrastructure.

INFRA 707: Optimal Performance and Technology Management 

Course Content: There is no doubt that performance is the most important word in any organization regardless of the size of such organization. Whilst on the other hand, performance technology represents a fundamental shift in thinking about how to improve performance. In this course, participants will be taken through practical process of performance technology including: performance analysis; performance drivers; skills and knowledge; motivations; environment; incentives; interventions amongst others. 

INFRA 573: Performance Improvement for Production Personnel Management
Course Content: This course is designed to increase the efficiency of production staff in diverse sectors of the economy. This also enable participants align their organizations’ internal processes with their professional development thus improving effectiveness in delivering value and increase performance.

INFRA 732: Store, Warehouse and Inventory Management 

Course Content: The importance of store, warehouse and inventory cannot overemphasize in effective management of procurement and the supply chain. The course will cover all aspects of store, warehouse and inventory operation therefore taking participants through the evaluation of procedures and tools for effective management of store and warehouse inventory. There will also be the use of practical skills on workplace optimization with a view to resolving all internal challenges that limit performance. Among the aspects to be covered by the course include; advanced stock control methods, methods of dealing with proliferation and variety, health and safety, demand planning as a tool for reduction of obsolescence and redundancy amongst others.

FIN 831: Advanced Finance Infrastructure Management II

Course Content: This course will discuss alternatives to conventional infrastructure finance such as exploring the stock market for the issuance of bonds including corporate bond for target infrastructure. Also, these issued bond can thereafter be securitized and traded on the exchange. Areas to be covered include; Sovereign Bonds, Sub-Sovereign Bonds, Municipal Bonds and Securitization.

COR 421: Advanced Corporate Governance Management – for Sustained Business Growth and Succession Planning 

Course Content: The course will examine the fundamental of corporate governance from a variety of angles – the board of directors, management, shareholders, the media, proxy advisors, regulators and other stakeholders – and focuses on assessing the effectiveness and execution of governance roles and responsibilities. There will also be cross-jurisdictional analysis of corporate governance obligations across African countries. 

INFRA 711: Plant, Infrastructures and Personnel Maintenance Management 

Course Content: Plant, infrastructure and personnel maintenance is germane to the sustainability of any infrastructural project. This includes planned maintenance, repair and reimbursement and provision for replacement of the infrastructure. Without neglecting the human angle by building the capacity of maintenance personnel with up-to-date technology for efficient service delivery. Essentially, efficient maintenance of plant, infrastructure and personnel require good policy, planning and implementation. This course will therefore explore the fundamentals of plant, infrastructure and personnel maintenance whilst also ensuring that participants explore the benefits of the cost-saving effects of good maintenance practice. 

INFRA 511: Advance Industrial Reporting & Communication Skills Management I 
Course Content: One of the invaluable skills expected of employees in diverse industries is report writing and communication skills. This course will therefore provide participants with all the competencies to communicate and write reports skillfully, professionally and prudently using industry language. 

ACC 726: Advance Industry Sector Auditing and Accounting Management

Course Content: There have been instances where accounting responsibilities fall on middle managers and supervisors despite having no formal training in the profession.  This course will provide practical accounting skills improvement training to middle managers and supervisors whilst delving into the preparation, analysis and interpretation of accounts.

INFRA 750: Mineral Infrastructure and Technology Management

Course Content: This course will cover the basic concepts, standards, purpose and implementation of mineral Infrastructure and security. The course will also delve into the current state of affairs of mineral infrastructure, technology and security in Africa and the prospects of exploration. There will be practical scenarios and security concepts that will assist participants apply modern technology for optimal mineral infrastructure beneficiation, investment, management and legislations.

MAGT 800: Strategic Administration and Industrial Policy Management 

Course Content: This course will take participants through the value and process of strategic administration. Whilst participants will become familiar with the subject matter, participants will be expected to integrate and apply their prior learning to strategic decision making in their respective organizations. This course is designed to explore participant’s organization’s vision, mission, techniques and models of organizational and environmental analysis, examine principles, and discuss the theory and practice of strategy formulation and implementation. 

INFRA 755: Quality Assurance Management

Course Content: The course is intended to give participants a broad overview concerning elements and actors of the quality infrastructure management in Africa.  This includes how different actors of the process collaborate and how issues such as product safety, consumer protection and free trade can be guaranteed. Furthermore, there will be an examination of the interplay between governmental regulation, African and international standards, product certification and government supervision.

SPECIALIZED SIMULATION COURSES 

PSYCH 0.1: Negotiation and Facilitation Management

Many people in public and private industry arena have not been exposed to the powerful tools, tips and techniques that lie behind successful negotiating, trade and industry sector facilitation. In fact, most people negotiate on a daily basis without even knowing why they are successful or not. This makes it all the more important to fine tune personnel negotiation skills to succeed both in their industry and personal life’s issues.

INFRA 0.1 – Facility Maintenance, Security, Administration & Management

The act of maintaining and keeping structures, spaces and infrastructures in proper operating condition is a major aspect of Industrial Operation. Technicians or Engineers are responsible for the maintenance, inspection and repair of any structure, infrastructure or machine in an industry. Industrial and facilities maintenance is required of any business that operates out of corporate offices or produces material goods. This workshop is designed to equip participants to identify the range of maintenance practices and knowledge on modern asset management practices.