On May 8th, 2021, the first E4Impact pan-African Graduation Ceremony of more than 150 impact entrepreneurs from the Global and Executive MBAs in Impact Entrepreneurship in Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Ivory Coast took place virtually. With this event, the journey of the MBAs for the students has come to an end, while the entrance in the business world has just began.
The ceremony started with the welcoming remarks of prof. Franco Anelli, Rector of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, that with his words, encouraged the students and projected them towards a future full of new experiences in the impact economy: “For our entrepreneurs, this moment is a projection into the future: the future that will require courage, perseverance, the ability to cooperate and – as we have wished to convey in recent years – a sense of responsibility towards the society and the environment.” He also remarked E4Impact’s vast collaborations with the universities around Africa, a partnership called E4Impact Alliance, that “has been able to continually innovate and adapt to the specificities of each country” and that has allowed the Foundation to make a social impact in Africa.
After the Rector, it was the time for prof. Mario Molteni, CEO of E4Impact Foundation, and H.E. Fabrizio Lobasso, Sub-Saharan Africa Director from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to remark the achieved and upcoming goals of the Foundation: “We have now trained over 2000 entrepreneurs and in the next few years, thanks to the fact that we now operate in 18 African countries, we will be able to coach around 500 entrepreneurs a year.”
The Foundation has been able to create, all over the years, a great network that connects entrepreneurs with a team of qualified professionals in Milan. The Global and Executive MBA represent an educational itinerary during which the students are trained and acquires skills and competences ready to use in their business. The MBA in Impact Entrepreneurship and the ICIE aim to create and develop new businesses, employment opportunities, and most important, a sustainable impact in every student’s community and in the country they represent.
As H.E. Fabrizio Lobasso has said, the partnership between Italy and African countries is not just about MBAs or political initiatives, but most important about shared values, ethical values, which are the key of the collaboration: “It is important that you, African friends, keep in mind this positive idea of Italy, as a country that offers opportunity and, most of all, keep on researching opportunities into Africa”.
Later, Kibret Abebe, CEO of Tebita Ambulance and President of Social Enterprise Ethiopia (SEE), has given an encouraging speech to all the students on how to approach their future in the business domain. He believes that an entrepreneur should be go-getter, courageous and hard worker to success because “we do not train only entrepreneurs but social entrepreneurs; the future of Africa relies on trying to entertain social problems with business models and in a sustainable way.”
Then, it was time for some Graduation Remarks from several personalities of the Academic environment, among whom Prof. Wondwosen Tamrat, Chairman of St. Mary University (Ethiopia), Fr. Hyacinthe Loua, General Director of the Centre for Research and Action for Peace (Ivory Coast), Alexandre Lyambabaje, Vice Chancellor at the University of Rwanda, (Rwanda), Fr. Joseph Turay, Vice Chancellor at the University of Makeni (Sierra Leone), Fr. John Maviiri, Vice Chancellor at Uganda Martyrs University (Uganda). All of them have expressed their satisfaction for E4Impact Foundation’s programs and Alliance that unites all universities engaged, in the creation of programmes and initiatives to support Impact Entrepreneurs in Africa.
During the ceremony, the Alumni from the previous editions of the MBAs have said a few words to the newborn businessmen and businesswomen and inspired them to always aim high and dream big because “today Africa has still a few manufacturing industries and you have the opportunity to occupy this space in a more meaningful way, thanks to the new advanced technologies. You have the possibility to be part of the growth of the continent.”
The most exciting part was the Recital where E4Impact Program Manager, Bertha Ndlovu, has read the names of our graduating entrepreneurs. The closing remarks were up to Fabio Petroni, Director of programs at E4Impact Foundation, who closed the event by wishing to all entrepreneurs a bright future and encouraging them to support each other, especially in this difficult time, by strengthening even more the Alliance, exchanging best practises, and developing new technologies.
This online event has been a great opportunity for all the participants to share emotions and positive messages. This has also been the occasion of a cultural exchange between Italian and African culture, and a wonderful moment of seeing each other, face-to-face, even if virtually.