Update February 2026

The first semester of 2026 is underway

We are pleased to send you our first update of 2026. All of our programs are either up and running or in the planning stages. We are particularly pleased that B360 Namibia is up and running.

B360 Namibia

On February 1, 2026, our office in Windhoek started operations. A few days ago, the first board meeting of B360 Namibia took place, at which Sabina Balmer was elected as Chair of the Board. The meeting focused on planning for the coming weeks and months.

We are looking forward very much to working with our Country Manager Nico Smit and expanding our team.

Further information about B360 Namibia can be found here.

Northbound

On Sunday, February 1, our interns from Namibia and Zambia landed in Zurich. A total of 11 students will be completing an internship in Switzerland until the end of April. This is the first time we have had such a large group of students from Zambia; a total of 10 of the 11 interns come from our partner universities UNILUS and UNZA, and one intern comes from NUST (Namibia).

For the interns completing their internship in Switzerland, things got underway on the second day – the interns working in Liechtenstein had an extra day off thanks to a public holiday.

We would like to thank our partner companies Bank Julius Bär, Bob Finance, LGT Bank, and Mediaschneider for providing the internships, and all our host families for their tremendous commitment.

On Carnival Monday, February 16, all eleven interns visited our office in Zug. After various workshops and intensive exchanges with the B360 team and among themselves, everyone enjoyed lunch together and a visit to the old town of Zug. The day together was a highlight for everyone, as it is not often that the whole group gets together.

We wish all interns an informative and exciting time in Switzerland and many wonderful experiences!

Virtual Internships

Our four virtual interns completed the digital part of their internships at the end of November and gave exciting insights into their internships at Robotist, Roche, and B360 in their final presentations. They are currently completing a physical internship in Zambia – we are very pleased that Liquid Telecom and Zicta are supporting our hybrid program with internship placements.

The “Virtual Internships” program was held for the last time in this format. In order to meet changing demands, we have developed the program further as presented in the following.  

Career Bridge – From graduation to labor market

The newly redesigned program continues to aim to support university graduates as they enter the world of work. This goal is achieved through a combination of training courses, hackathon workshops, and a physical internship.

The program takes a hybrid approach: in the virtual part, participants work in two teams to solve various hackathons. The problem statements come from Swiss companies and are worked on in a structured manner over a period of four weeks. During the last 12 weeks of the six-month program, each participant completes an internship on site in Zambia. 

The program Career Bridge will be offered for the first time in 2026 in collaboration with the University of Lusaka, UNILUS. We would like to express our sincere thanks to the Staub Kaiser Foundation for its financial support.

Companies wanted for our new Career Bridge program

We are looking for companies that are interested in participating in the program, offering a hackathon, and virtually mentoring a team for four weeks. We would be delighted to hear from you by email or phone at +41 77 477 99 63.

Further information about the program can be found on our website.

Changes to the Board and Advisory Board

There were a number of changes at our General Assembly meeting in early February:

Long-standing Board member Rudolf Schmitt stepped down and entered well-deserved retirement. Daniel Gasser, who previously served on the B360 Advisory Board, was newly elected to the Board. We would like to thank Rudolf Schmitt for his 16 years of service and great support, and wish Daniel Gasser every success in his new role.

As part of our rolling planning, we welcomed new members to the Advisory Board last year. Five previous members have now retired. Marianne Egli, Armin Hollenstein, Reto Kuprecht, Esther Sapi, and Albert Zwicker have actively supported us over the past 10-17 years – we thank them all for their very valuable contributions.

The official farewell will take place in June at the B360 annual event.

Outlook

Our other programs are in the final stages of planning:

As part of Southbound, eight experts will travel to Windhoek, Namibia, between February and April to teach at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST). As it is a tradition, our experts will be working in the Department of Health and Applied Sciences in the areas of food safety, clinical health sciences, and occupational safety. In addition, four Career Starter Weeks will be held, run by employees of LGT Bank and Roche and a private volunteer.

On February 25, 2026, the B360 networking event will take place in Windhoek for the sixth time. Alumni, lecturers, local experts, and B360 experts are invited to the event to exchange ideas and get together with the network. This year, the focus will be on the launch of B360 Namibia and the 15th anniversary of the Northbound Program.

We look forward to sending you more news and updates of B360 soon, and to an exciting 2026.

Best regards,
Sabina Balmer and the B360 team