Course details
Course date
March - June 2027
Format
Blended
Application deadline
19 February 2027
Fees
$28,000 (USD)
Location
Virtual, Johannesberg and Cambridge
Programme fees cover tuition, programme materials, accommodation and meals during the seminar. Fees do not include travel costs.
Africa’s evolving socio-economic landscape requires leaders who can operate across systems, sectors and scales. The Africa Sustainability Leadership Programme (ASLP) blends online, in-person and applied learning into a four-month leadership journey, equipping senior executives to integrate ESG, sustainable finance and systems thinking into strategy, culture and investment decisions. ASLP, which is run in partnership with the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), moves senior executives from awareness to agency on sustainability, enabling them to drive resilient growth within African realities and global markets.
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Programme Features
Transformative Learning
You are invited to challenge pre-existing assumptions, explore new perspectives, and engage deeply with the ideas shaping sustainability transitions. Through guided reflection, faculty dialogue, and practical exercises, the programme encourages you to rethink how you understand risk, value, responsibility and leadership in a rapidly changing world.
Systems Thinking
You will explore how economic systems, environmental pressures, and social dynamics interact to shape organisational outcomes. Through interdisciplinary cases and facilitated discussion, you will learn to interpret complex systems, identify leverage points, and make decisions that account for long-term impacts across sectors and geographies.
Project-Based Learning
Throughout the programme, you will develop a project focused on a real organisational or ecosystem challenge. With guidance from faculty and peers, you will refine the problem, design practical interventions, and build an actionable strategy. This process ensures that learning translates into tangible outcomes beyond the ‘classroom/coursework’.
Contextual Relevance
The programme engages directly with the realities of operating across African markets while drawing insights from international policy, finance, and sustainability practice. You examine case studies and policy developments that reflect both regional complexity and global trends, enabling you to lead effectively within African contexts and international systems.
Collaborative Intelligence
You will be joining a diverse cohort of leaders from business, finance, policy, and civil society. Through structured dialogue and collaborative exercises, relationships will be built that extend well beyond the programme. These networks become platforms for continued learning, partnership, and collective/collaborative action on sustainability challenges.
Reflective Practice
Sustainability leadership goes beyond technical expertise, and through reflective exercises and facilitated conversations, you explore the values and motivations that shape your leadership. This process helps you align personal purpose with professional influence, strengthening your ability to act with clarity and conviction in complex environments.
Key Outcomes
- Develop systems thinking and contextual intelligence to navigate complex sustainability challenges.
- Strengthen your ability to integrate ESG, finance, and culture into business strategy for sustainable growth.
- Deepen reflective and moral leadership capacity to influence transformation ethically and inclusively.
- Enable collaborative cross-sector problem-solving that generates tangible sustainability innovations.
- Foster personal commitment and advocacy for long-term sustainability impact within and beyond your organisation.
Module Schedule
| Date | Format | Location | |
| Module 1 | 1 March – 8 April 2027 | Virtual | Self-paced within a 40-day window |
| Module 2 | 10 – 14 March 2027 | In-person | GIBS Campus, South Africa |
| Module 3 | 21 – 25 June 2027 | In-person | University of Cambridge, United Kingdom |
Who Should Attend
Each seminar includes a mix of carefully selected senior executives from a range of geographies and industries to enhance peer-learning and collaboration. These include senior decision-makers from the corporate, public and development sectors, who hold institutional authority and influence capital allocation, policy direction, governance, and long-term strategy at national and continental level.
• Appropriate seniority within their organisation, with ideally 15 years’ experience
• Influential strategic decision-making in the business/industry sector
• Commitment to driving a just and sustainable economic transition in Africa (and beyond)
• Ability to pay the full fees, personally or through a sponsoring institution
Programme Directors
Khanyi Mlambo
CISL Fellow and Managing Director of KM ESH Consulting
Dr Kelly Alexander
Faculty, MBA & Executive Education at GIBS and Director of TIGC
All applications are subjected to a robust vetting procedure to ensure delegates build diverse, international networks and foster ideas that cross traditional boundaries.
Programme content, faculty, module schedules and fees are subject to amendment.
