June 28, 2022, was a great day for us at E4Impact Foundation. A day in which our efforts were recognised with the “Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program of the Year Award”, during the Triple E Awards sponsored by the Accreditation Council for Entrepreneurial and Engaged Universities.
But let’s take a step back. What is E4Impact’s main objective? To create a new generation of impact entrepreneurs. How have we been doing it? Offering programs that have supported the creation of new businesses in Africa for more than twelve years. Over this time, we have trained more than 6,000 entrepreneurs and have contributed to the creation of more than 16,000 new jobs.
The Triple E Award is a global recognition of the effort made in the quest for embedding entrepreneurship and community engagement in higher education. It is the first award to focus specifically on the universities’ role in their communities and ecosystems.
The ceremony was held in Florence on June 28 and was attended by people from organizations with great purpose and wonderful missions. This is what made it so special: we were able to note that people and institutions are increasingly interested in the development of the African continent and that what we’re doing is yes a small, but valuable contribution.
In our CEO, Prof. Mario Molteni’s own words: «It’s a great honour for E4Impact to be awarded the “Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program of the Year Award”. Rather than an achievement, I consider this as added motivation to continue to do our best to support entrepreneurial development in Africa. Starting with our MBA in Impact Entrepreneurship offered in partnership with ALTIS – Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, we have a threefold mission in Africa: 1) to train entrepreneurs who are generating positive social and environmental impact, 2) to build the capacity of the universities that collaborate with us and 3) to link African and European companies in mutually beneficial business partnerships.»
A special thanks to the E4Impact team, in both Africa and Italy, for the work that they have done to receive this recognition.”