École supérieure des affaires (Beirut)


Established in 1996 following an intergovernmental agreement between France and Lebanon, the École supérieure des affaires is a business school in Beirut, Lebanon, managed by the Paris Île-de-France Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The faculty is composed of professors from Europe, particularly from ESCP Europe and HEC Paris.

History

The École Supérieure des Affaires was established in 1996. The idea behind creating an important business school in Beirut came from, and was promoted—in particular towards the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry—by Fayek Abillama, who was also the President of the Alumni Association at HEC, Lebanon. At the same time, Jean-Pierre Lafon, former French Ambassador to Lebanon, convinced of the necessity of increasing Franco-Lebanese cooperation in matters of education, adopted the idea of creating a Business School to address the needs of the business community. In May 1995, he approached the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry to set his plan in motion, in close collaboration with The Central Bank of Lebanon and its Governor, Riad Salame. A partnership was thereafter established between the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Central Bank of Lebanon, and the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry. ESA was established on April 5, 1996, in the presence of French President Jacques Chirac and Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, through an intergovernmental agreement signed between France and Lebanon, and an institutional agreement signed between The Central Bank of Lebanon and the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
ESA was recognized by the Lebanese Ministry of Higher Education decree N8 9033 dated 27 August 1996.

Campus

Villa Rose – Portalis Mansion

The "Villa Rose", is a historical 19th century mansion. Built by industrialists Antoine-Fortuné and Nicolas Portalis who founded a sericulture and silk production facility in the Shouf region in 1836. The Portalis heirs sold the mansion in the early 20th century to the French mandate authorities. The "Villa Rose" is still owned by the French government, it had accommodated since the 1930s the counselor of the embassy of France in Lebanon. The "Villa Rose" and its gardens have been abandoned and ravaged during the Lebanese civil war. The ESA recently acquired the "Villa Rose" from the French government according to a long term lease. The ESA is restoring the "Villa Rose" in preparation of future expansion and integration into the campus, meanwhile the Portalis mansion is used by ESA to house regular cultural events and painting expositions.

Academics

Faculty

The Ecole Supérieure des Affaires hosts approximately 250 visiting international leading academics and professors most of which come from the two centres of Business Higher Education of the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry: ESCP Europe and HEC group. The ESA is headed by Stéphane Attali who had been the deputy director general of ESCP Europe; Attali replaced Roger Ourset and assumed office in January 2009. According to the WBS 2010 ranking, after 14 years of existence, the ESA scored first in the MENA region amongst more than 50 other establishments. Highly selective, the Ecole Supérieure des Affaires has today acquired a great prestige, competing French and English best business schools.

Academic cooperation

The selection criteria rest mainly on competitive written and oral exams.