The E4Impact Alliance Launch Event took place at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Milan from the 1st to the 3rd of April 2019. The event has been a milestone for the partnership between Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (UCSC), the E4Impact Foundation and 18 African universities from 18 African Countries. With the launch of the E4Impact Alliance, the parties involved intend to create the largest pan-African community of universities which promotes entrepreneurial training and initiatives focused on social and environmental impact in the African continent, as a driver for a real and sustainable development.
The three-day event saw the presence of Rectors, Vice-Chancellors and Delegates from 18 African universities, in addition to the top management of the E4Impact Foundation, as well as the Rector and some Senior Delegates of the UCSC. The event was graced also by the participation of distinguished spokespeople of the institutional and business world, such as the Honorable Emanuela Claudia Del Re, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Letizia Moratti, E4Impact Foundation President and Alessandro Amadori, Counsellor for Political and Social Analysis, Vice Presidency of the Italian Council of Ministers with delegation for investments in Africa.
The universities participating were: Universidade Católica de Angola, University of Botswana, Université Catholique du Congo, St. Mary’s University of Ethiopia, African University of Management (Gabon), University of Professional Studies of Accra (Ghana), CERAP – Centre de Recherche et d’Action pour la Paix (Côte d’Ivoire), Tangaza University College (Kenya), Université Internationale de Casablanca (Morocco), St. Thomas University of Mozambique, University of Abuja (Nigeria), University of Rwanda, Groupe ISM – Institut Supérieur de Management (Senegal), University of Makeni (Sierra Leone), Tshwane University of Technology (South Africa), University of Medical Sciences & Technology (Sudan), Uganda Martyrs University and The Catholic University of Zimbabwe.
The E4Impact Alliance Launch was focused on three main topics:
- The current situation of the African socio-economic context;
- The role that local entrepreneurship could play in further development of the Continent;
- The opportunities for Italian companies to enter into dialogue with the African continent throughout its growth process.
The event has also been an appropriate environment to launch new entrepreneurial training initiatives, such as short courses and business accelerators, in addition to the well-known Global MBA in Impact Entrepreneurship, through which the Foundation and the partner universities have already trained almost 900 entrepreneurs around Africa.
The Alliance would be the primary network among international universities to promote African Impact entrepreneurship, since it aims to be a community that shares knowledge, good practices and connection among the members. It will also promote joint collaboration to encourage innovation within existing training programs and to develop new scientific content, such as curricula, course materials, video lessons, etc. The collaboration among universities of different Countries will also build a reliable pan-African network of Alumni that will foster the creation of cross-continental business partnerships.
The Alliance aims at the creation of a pan-African brand that could reinforce the positioning of each member in the communities which they belong to. Being part of the Alliance will enable the African universities to become points of reference in entrepreneurial training and social transformation in Africa.
Watch the video of the event