Mastercard Foundation launches 10-year $500M African higher education initiative

The Toronto, Canada-based Mastercard Foundation has launched a 10-year, $500 million commitment to support higher education across Africa, awarding the five inaugural Africa Higher Education for Transformation prizes to Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia), the International Institute for Water and Environmental Engineering (Burkina Faso), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (Ghana), Muni University (Uganda), and the University of Rwanda (Kigali, Rwanda). Each school will receive $3 million to help scale institution-wide transformation that expands institutional capacity and opportunities for young people. Over the coming decade, the initiative aims to recognize at least 150 African institutions advancing research, employment, health, innovation, and teaching excellence.