Private postgrad pioneer launched in Lagos

Nigeria's only private postgraduate university has opened in Lagos with 50 students.

The Pan African University is to focus on training managers and decision-makers in Nigeria's growing banking and oil sectors.

Albert Alos, the vice-chancellor, said programmes include full and part-time postgraduate MBA courses modelled on MBAs at Yale, the London Business School and IESE Business School at the University of Navarra in Spain.

Professor Alos, a Spanish national, added that a second phase would include postgraduate courses in economics, finance and information technology.

"We have the challenge to retain talents in the country. Nigeria loses manpower through people who seek postgraduate programmes abroad. Many go overseas and stay there.

"Our aim is to provide manpower development for the growth of society and improve the quality of the workers in the main sectors of the economy by retraining."

And he added: "The university places a high premium on business ethics."

The university has recruited 18 faculty and 50 support staff. Fees have been set at $3,800 (£2,600) for a two-year course. Many students are sponsored by employers.