MBA

Today’s global business environment is dynamic and challenging. It needs executives who understands the changing global trends and responds to them with appropriate actions. Rwanda is no exception to these changes.
The rapid economic development in this country and the need for executive training has prompted SFB to start the Outreach MBA Program in partnership with Maastricht School of Management (MSM), Netherlands in 2004.

The MBA Program imparts the necessary skills required by the executives to quantify, assess, forecast price, derive, evaluate, manage risk, strategically think, innovate, plan and execute yet administer and manage increasingly complex business issues.

This program creates an interactive learning environment for the participants to learn, unlearn and relearn the concepts to upgrade their skills and knowledge levels. The major objective of the program is to enhance professional competence and enrich the lives and careers of those involved in the practice of management.
The program is designed to balance the management theory with practical experience and research in a multicultural and multidisciplinary setting. This approach enables the participant to enhance his leadership skills.

For MBA to be done at home (Rwanda) is a blessing beyond all imaginable dimensions. Professionals who study at SFB have chance to pursue this internationally recognized Master of Business Administration, keep in physical touch with their families, continue making professional contribution to their organizations and further monitor the progress of anything of their interests.

We have had outstanding politicians, army officers, senior and middle managers, financial controllers, project coordinators, from different professional, academic and social backgrounds coming into contact at SFB for this MBA Program. SFB establishes an ideal environment for them to share their experiences yet benefit from the wisdom of each other.

Design of the Program

Much as the program demands a lot from the participant, the variety of teach ing and learning methods which include lectures, problem based learning exercises, workshops, case study analyses, group discussions, presentations, outside class assignments, independent research and seminars which expose the participants to real world experience tend to make the course too enjoyable to feel the demand involved.

Total there are 66 Credits that each MBA participant must accomplish. The program consists of Foundation segment, providing a solid knowledge base in each of the eight management courses. Each course has 3 ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) credits. The following Integration segment offers four courses having 4 ECTS credits and is more integrated and multidisciplinary in nature.

The Specialization segment offers Finance and Project Management as expert specializations. Participants choose one out of the two specializations offered each with 20 ECTS credits. At the end of the program the participant writes a Master Thesis with 6 ECTS credits in the Performance segment based on their choice by choosing issues arising out of contemporary business environment.

The program emphasizes applied skills in the area of business management, while still providing the necessary theoretical background. The suggested coursework fits within the guidelines established by the International Association of MBAs. Duration
MBA at SFB covers two years of work, with 18 months for teaching and examination of the 17 courses and 6 months for research and submission of Master Thesis. Since the inception of MBA up to now, all our participants are part time with five days of intensive lectures at foundation level done in two weeks each day with close to five hours.

The regular class work in a day starts at 4:30pm and ends at 9:30pm. After that, participants remain with 2 weeks in which they do outside class assignments, coursework, independent research and individual reading as they prepare for that course examination that is done usually on the last Sunday of the month.
The same applies to both integration and specialization segments excepting the fact that these have 6 days in order to cover the 32 hours allocated to each module.

MBA Graduates

From the first batch of Intake 1, 56 MBAs have graduated in Dec 2006 and 38 from Intake 2 in March 2008. During the Master Theses Defense in April 2008, 26 participants from Intake 2 were qualified to receive their certificates.
The MBA Alumni Association was established in Nov 2007 to strengthen the program. The majority of the alumni assume new responsibilities with increased opportunities for advancement, while others utilize the additional skills to take on new professional challenges or career changes.

Ongoing Program-Intake 3

There is a great demand for the MBA program at SFB. Around 231 candidates have applied for Intake 3 and only 105 got admitted. Presently 84 candidates are pursuing the program while others dropped out due to personal reasons. They have completed the Foundation segment and complete Integration segment by the end of June 2008.

Future Program-Intake 4

MSM-SFB decided to restructure the curriculum of MBA Program for the forthcoming Intake 4 likely to be offered in July/August 2008. There are three segments namely Foundation, MSM Core and Specialization. New specializations like Economic Development, General and strategic Management, Procurement Management and Tourism and Hospitality Management are proposed for the new program.
The candidates applying for the Intake 4 should have a score of at least 550 on a paper based TOEFL or 213 on a computer based or its equivalent English Proficiency Test conducted by SFB. In addition they should also have a minimum of three years of working experience. The tuition fee for the two-year program is US $ 10,000 and should be paid in at the most two equal installments.

The SFB in Partnership with the MSM currently offers the Master’s Degree in Business Administration with specializations in Project Management and Finance, and may introduce other options to suit the needs of our clients. Our MBA covers two years of course work, with 18 months for teaching and examination of the 17 courses, and 6 months for research and submission of the Thesis.

Admission Application Requirements

In order to apply for the SFB-MSM MBA, the candidates are required to have a score of 550 on a Paper-Based TOEFL or 213 on a Computer-Based test or the equivalent English Proficiency Test conducted by SFB. In addition, the candidate should have a minimum of three years of working experience.

MBA Alumni Association

The MBA Alumni Association of was established in November 2007 to strengthen the programme. The majority of the alumni assume responsibilities with increased opportunities for advancement while others utilize the additional skills to take on new professional challenges. SFB is working to enhance its alumni relations over coming years. All alumni are requested to keep in touch with the school and get involved in all activities that take place at the school as much as possible.

Fee Structure

Education is usually associated with being expensive but the alternative is more costly. Pursuing an MBA that is internationally recognized may prove to be much more expensive than it is at SFB. Each participant pays US $ 10,000 for the two year MBA program in three equal installments. In addition to that, all participants are required to pay 42,000 Frw as registration fee payable only once.

Download Application Forms

Attachment	Size
SFBGAT-MBA-Website.doc	34 KB
SFBNEWAPPLFORM.doc	294.5 KB
Referee_report_form-SFB.doc	48 KB
MSM Application_form-2011-2012.doc	52.5 KB