First African student wins international student of the year award

Olebogeng Glad Dibetso, a graduate of the Master of Business Administration class of 2012 at the institute, has won the international student of the year award for 2013. The prestigious award is awarded to students who show exceptional leadership and ambassadorial qualities.

Dibetso was awarded the accolade, which comes with the role of honorary global ambassador for the period of one year as well as a cash prize. The award was handed to him at a gala dinner that was held on 6 November in London. Dibetso held off strong competition from the other five finalists short-listed from well-recognised and accredited international business schools to win this year’s award.

He is currently based in Nigeria where he was promoted to managing director for Dimension Data West Africa. His move to Nigeria followed the completion of his degree at the institute where he graduated with distinction, including 15 subject distinctions and three top subject awards.

“We would like to offer our congratulations to Glad,” said the institute’s Prof. Nicola Kleyn. “He has been an inspiration to many students as he continues to work closely with the school on other mentoring programmes. He was an exceptional student and is an astute business person. This award is testimony to his accomplishments.”

Dibetso said, “It is a great honour to receive this award. There has never been a winner from an African business school. This award is not only for me but for the whole continent.”

He will donate his winnings to his favourite non-governmental organisation, BizSchool, which he is a board member of. The organisation was founded by the director of the institute, Jonathan Cook and Sarah Myerscough in 2008.