A land of opportunities for high-skilled, international managers (and nature lovers!): Christophe Dominique (E89), Head of ESSEC Alumni’s South Africa Chapter, tells us about the life of the local alumni community – and the services he offers to them.

ESSEC Alumni: How famous is the ESSEC brand in your country? 

Christophe Dominique: The French Embassy launched a campaign a few years ago to increase the influence of French higher education through collaboration amongst France’s alumni from South Africa, which gave increased visibility to ESSEC and other Grandes Écoles.

EA: What are the careers of our alumni in South Africa? 

C. Dominique: Most of them are here on an intercompany transfer visa, for a period of 3 to 5 years, working as CEO or CFO of the most prestigious French companies. But we have some long term expats as well, some who stayed after their VIE in the country and working for local companies. Also, as tourism is a key driver of the South African economy, we have a few IMHI graduates.

EA: What opportunities are there in South Africa for our alumni? 

C. Dominique: France is ranked as the 9^th largest investor in South Africa, with more than 300 French companies operating in the country. A lot of French companies are employing ESSEC here, however, it is rather difficult to get a working visa due to the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE), a program that provides a legislative framework for the transformation of South Africa's economy. However, the scarcity of skills gives a lot of opportunities to our graduates. 

EA: How does the COVID-19 pandemic impact those opportunities? 

C. Dominique: South Africa’s already fragile economy is suffering tremendously: the wine industry had to endure 3 alcohol bans during lockdown, the hospitality industry is taking a heavy toll due to the lack of tourists… The unemployment rate increased by 7.5 percentage points to 30.8% – and the expanded unofficial employment rate is 43.1%. According to the official statistics, 11.1 million working-age people are unemployed.

EA: As a foreigner, what makes it interesting to live in South Africa?

C. Dominique: South Africa is a beautiful country, with extremely diverse landscapes. We have 2,800 kilometers of coastline stretching from Namibia and the Atlantic Ocean, round the tip of Africa at Cape Agulhas where it becomes the Indian Ocean, and up to the Mozambique border. Flora and fauna are also unique. South Africa is home to iconic wildlife including the largest land mammals. There are 22,000 indigenous plants from 230 different families; the country boasts that it has 10% of the world’s flowering species. 

Another interest is the quality of South African wines and there are many excellent restaurants, especially in the Cape and Johannesburg. Last but not least, the weather is an undeniable asset. The sun shines all year long, and though it might be freezing at night during the winter, temperatures during the day usually remain rather clement.

EA: What about South Africans?

C. Dominique: South Africa has 11 official languages and a multilingual population fluent in at least two. South Africans are extremely friendly, and love nothing more than to invite you round for a Sunday lunchtime ‘braai’ (barbecue).

EA: What advice do you have for our alumni moving in South Africa? 

C. Dominique: Embrace the South African culture, visit the country and participate to its development by empowering the local population. Enjoy the country… but stay vigilant. Security is a major issue in a country where the Gini index, a measure of statistical dispersion representing the wealth inequality within a nation, is the highest in the world after Lesotho, an enclave within the border of South Africa.

EA: What is the offer of ESSEC Alumni’s South Africa Chapter? 

C. Dominique: Pandemic aside, we usually meet 3 to 4 times a year for networking dinners, and as the French community is rather small in South Africa, we also have multiple opportunities to meet at other events. 

Interview by Veary Ngy, International Community Manager at ESSEC Alumni, and Louis Armengaud Wurmser (E10), Content Manager at ESSEC Alumni 

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