CIDA is about developing the individual and the larger

community. Practical subjects in their Careers Centre prepare students to deal with life and career commitments. They have practical mock interview processes where students are video recorded. Students also have access to a Clothes Library where they can select appropriate clothing to wear to interviews with future employers. Students are also involved in community outreach

programmes through their compulsory Extranet program. These programmes sometimes reach across South African borders and involve CIDA students mentoring school children from rural communities. It guides CIDA students toward becoming leaders within their communities. There are plans to launch a Centre for Social

Entrepreneurship where students are taught how to identify and commercialise business opportunities in rural and developing societies. Access to information for career planning, economic participation of rural areas and the promotion of education amongst the youth is also expected to, in part, address the problem of inter-generational poverty. CIDA has proven to be very relevant in the South African business landscape. Some of their 2010 achievements include one CIDA graduate who finished 8th overall out of 100 delegates in the Nedbank Graduate Development Programme at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS). SAP University has granted CIDA students full access to their Alliance TERP10 training course. This made CIDA the first higher education institution in South Africa to integrate the programme into its curriculum. CIDA has been endorsed to offer the Association

of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) programmes. ACCA recognised CIDA’s BBA degree as an exemption into the association’s accounting programme. CIDA has been awarded the African Access National Business Award in the category of Business Education and Training. Four of the top ten positions in the Standard Bank National Traders Trophy Final went to CIDA students. A total of 155 students received their international ICT certificates in ICDL, A+, Network+, SAP Business 1, Cisco CNA international, Java programming, Web development and Solaris system admin. A CIDA student was selected as one of three youth leaders

from Africa to attend the Global Forum with Elders where they interacted with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Graça Machel and Mary Robinson. One CIDA student was selected to attend the annual Brightest Young Minds Summit. The same student was chosen from there as one of twenty-four Protégés to attend the annual 2010 MTN Business Leading CEO Council discussions. CIDA students received top honours at the national Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) competition, most notably 1st place on Financial Literacy. Aside from these accolades, 200 out of the 216 graduates

for 2010 have already been gainfully employed. When students enter CIDA City Campus some have never had the opportunity to work on a personal computer. When they complete their degree they comment: “CIDA has brought hope to my life; when I walked out of CIDA I walked out with a degree and principles, with values and with respect. I’ve grown from an ordinary young man who had no sense of purpose, no goals and no direction to someone who can say that, today, I no longer am my background, I am my decisions and choices”.

In the mid-1990s four pioneers created a think-tank to conceptualise an attainable, innovative educational model. The result was the formation of CIDA in January 2000 in downtown Johannesburg. In the first year 250 students enrolled and 5 lecturers offered statistics, mathematics, human resources management, finance and IT. They had no PCs and no text books. Today CIDA is an accredited higher education institution based in Lyndhurst. 1,200 BBA qualified students have graduated. They have taught 500,000 people around South Africa how to build business. They continue to be funded mainly by leading visionary local South African corporations and individuals.

August 2011 | Management Today 83