Asha Mweru Mbowa to Lead AMI Enterprise as Managing Director

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

A leading business learning company, African Management Institute (AMI), has appointed Mrs Asha Mweru Mbowa as the Managing Director of its newly launched AMI Enterprise, a new division dedicated to boosting workplace and professional skills for growth-stage and established companies.

The Kenyan national was promoted to the new position from her role as AMI’s Director of Operations and Talent, where she oversaw a 118 per cent growth of AMI employees from 2020 to 2022.

Her promotion continues the precedent set by AMI in which women represent over 60 per cent of all senior leadership positions at AMI.

The new division of AMI leverages its long-standing position in the continent’s training sector and its Africa-focused approach, proven to drive performance among leaders, managers, and Africa’s growing workforce.

She will lead an AMI Enterprise division with a deep bench and an ever-growing footprint across the continent, including sales and learning delivery team members in Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, Senegal, and Nigeria.

AMI Enterprise will complement AMI Impact, the company’s other internal division, which works alongside development partners to deliver large-scale learning and business growth programmes to support the entrepreneurial economy.

“AMI’s team not only prepares the next generation of African leaders and workforce. our team is part of the next generation. We know that Africa’s business and professional talent are the driving factor behind the growth of the continent’s established and emerging businesses,” said Mrs Mweru Mbowa, who is based in Accra, Ghana.

“It’s time for Africa to do away with the learning methodologies of the past, not rooted in our own experiences.

“As an African learning company and a pioneer in this space, we’re excited to expand our enterprise offerings to reach even more professionals and accelerate the pace at which companies working in Africa’s business ecosystem can achieve their goals and put Africa at the centre for the global economy,” she added.

The Africa-based learning company equips businesses, managers, and Africa’s future workforce with the practical tools and training they need to succeed and drive growth.

AMI’s proven learning approach incorporates virtual and in-person workshops with on-the-job practice and support accompanied by practical online and mobile learning tools. Programmes are delivered by experienced world-class and African-based facilitators.

“AMI was founded nearly a decade ago with a vision for enabling Africa’s ambitious enterprises to thrive through practical management tools and training. We’ve grown rapidly, supporting leaders and managers at thousands of organisations, from Raddison Blu and Uber to Africa’s own rising stars, such as MKOPA and RwandAir.

“Our practical business learning is proven to accelerate Africa’s entrepreneurial economy. The recent establishment of AMI Enterprise as a core division will allow us to scale up our support for these companies as they grow to be a force in the global economy,” said Rebecca Harrison, AMI’s CEO and co-founder. “There’s no one more qualified than Asha Mweru Mbowa to lead AMI Enterprise as we respond to the rapid growth and demand across Africa for AMI’s corporate and growth-stage business training programmes.”

AMI’s Enterprise clients can select from AMI’s 4-6 month flagship leadership, management, and workforce performance programmes, shorter 1-2 month focused professional power skills programmes, and AMI’s Enterprise Academy solution, which provides virtual, on-demand, and localised blended learning for hundreds of participants.

The firm also develops bespoke learning programmes rooted in AMI methodology and leveraging its proprietary online learning platform, which includes over 3,000 downloadable tools, over 80 online courses and content in 5 languages. AMI learning programmes incorporate African-contextualized content and case studies based on African businesses and management experiences.

Mrs Mbowa joined AMI in 2020 after extensive experience working in Africa’s investment sector and with business education providers. She served as an Investment Advisor with Novastar Ventures and in key leadership roles with Kenya’s business education company, Sinapis Group.

She is active as an experienced entrepreneur and is the co-founder of Women Work Kenya, a technology-driven company focused on the advancement of African women entrepreneurs and professionals through digital communities and access to growth opportunities. She also serves as an Advisory board member of LendHer Capital and Profish Ghana Limited.

Mrs Mweru Mbowa is currently pursuing a Masters in Liberal Arts, Management from the Harvard Extension School and is a graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Business and Information Technology from Strathmore University.