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CSE Africa offers short and long courses that build local capacity on the ground.

CSE Africa offers short and long courses that build local capacity on the ground.

Centre of Social Excellence (CSE) Africa

CSE Africa was established in 2008 to strategically build local capacity on-the-ground in Central and West Africa and thereby close the wide gap between social management practices in the region and the responsible sourcing commitments of companies that use African commodities.

Currently, there are too few social practitioners in Africa who can be hired to establish and run the social programmes which are needed to build and maintain good relationships between companies and local stakeholders. CSE Africa is a unique educational initiative that trains early-career professionals from regions where commodity production takes place to serve as social practitioners by helping companies, communities and governments to build systems for long-term collaboration and constructive relations.

ENG: Click here to learn more about how companies in Africa are tackling the ongoing challenges of COVID-19

FR: Cliquez ici pour en savoir plus sur la manière dont les entreprises en Afrique relèvent les défis actuels du COVID-19

Key activities

Long courses

CSE Africa’s foundational training programme is the 10-month ‘Social Manager Long Course’ which serves recent university graduates and early career professionals from across sub-Saharan Africa. This course consists of 4 months of theoretical and practical training in Yaoundé, followed by a 5-6 month internship with companies, NGOs and governments while still under the coaching of CSE trainers. The Long Course finishes with a 1-month session in which students document and share their internship projects. Students are then given career placement support that links them with potential employers who are seeking trained social practitioners.

Short courses

The CSE Africa ‘Short Courses’ are offered to professionals who are already employed but need to build key skills or learn new social management methods. These courses can be customised to different levels of companies, organisations, and governments based on the needs and requests of the organisations.

Facts

Thirty-five percent of the CSE Long Course graduates are women.
Ninety percent of graduates of the CSE Long Course are currently employed.
CSE graduates work in companies in the forestry, palm oil, rubber, oil and gas sectors; as well as NGOs, consultancies and government agencies.

Partner

CSE Africa is funded with UK aid from the UK government.

Collaborating members

Members make far-reaching commitments to respect people and nature in their supply chains. They work with us on an ongoing journey of improvement and innovation.

Nestlé
Learn more
Socfin
Learn more

List of partners

Alcoa Foundation

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