TAG Appoints Chris Pilgrim As CEO

Transnational Academic Group (TAG), which owns and operates Lancaster University Ghana, is pleased to announce the appointment of Christopher (Chris) Pilgrim as CEO – West Africa effective 1st February 2019.

With over 27 years of experience in the higher education sector, Chris will be heading TAG’s Lancaster University Ghana campus, which was established in 2013 in academic partnership with Lancaster University and is ranked 6th in the UK. Chris has been with the TAG Group since 2010 and is no new-comer to the African setting, having been closely involved with the Group’s strategic development plans for the continent.

He has undertaken a comprehensive analysis of the higher education landscape in Africa and is familiar with both the challenges and opportunities facing the sector.

Speaking on the occasion of Chris’s appointment as CEO, Group Co-Founder Rakesh Wahi said “Chris has been a key member of our executive team since 2010 and is the most appropriate candidate to take our Ghana operations to the next level, especially since he has been involved with the establishment of the Ghana campus from the concept stage.”

TAG has an 11 year history in the tertiary education space with campuses in The Middle East and West Africa. The group partners with globally top-ranked universities to provide high quality education in emerging market nations, so that local students can obtain a UK degree while staying in their home country at a fraction of the cost.

TAG’s campus in Ghana, in partnership with Lancaster University provides world-class higher education for students throughout not just West Africa, but from the entire continent.

“Ghana is a strategic gateway into West Africa and it was seen by both TAG and Lancaster University from the outset as an ideal location for our first campus in Africa.  Having been with the TAG Group Senior Team for 10 years, I am looking forward to my new role as CEO TAG West Africa, and I am looking forward to leading the team into the next phases of development of the university.

With over ½ million African students studying abroad annually, the continent has the highest outbound student ratio in the world.  Unfortunately, along with this annual migration of students comes capital flight and increased brain drain.  Our presence in Africa may help to alleviate, albeit in a modest way, this outflow of talent and capital by providing students with a globally education experience near their home. ”, Chris said.

Chris holds an MBA degree and a BBA degree in Finance from the University of New Brunswick in Canada.