MasterCard Foundation to Spend $86.6m on African Scholars

At the Talloires Network Leaders Conference on Monday, The MasterCard Foundation announced that over 2,300 university students will be able to hit the books in classrooms in Uganda, South Africa and Ghana by early next year.

The Foundation said, it is committing $86.6 million to work in collaboration with four new African university partners to educate talented, yet economically disadvantaged, young people through its Scholars Program.

These institutions join the global network of 21 partners in the Scholars Program, including Ashesi University College in Ghana, the first African University to partner with the Foundation in 2012.

The new partnerships announced on Monday include, Makerere University, Uganda; University of Pretoria (UP), South Africa; Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana and University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa.

This collaboration builds on the Foundation’s growing network of global education partners who are committed to educating Africa’s young leaders who will use their knowledge and skills to lead change in their communities and contribute to meaningful transformation across the continent. Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, the University of Pretoria and Makerere University have already opened their doors to their first cohorts of MasterCard Foundation Scholars, while the University of Cape Town is expected to welcome its first cohort in January 2015.

“I feel the itch to learn,” said Yvonne Sihle Mashaba, a MasterCard Foundation Scholar majoring in Environmental Economics at the University of Pretoria. “I want to acquire knowledge that will help me fulfill my dream of ending poverty and unemployment around the world.”

“The MasterCard Foundation is excited to have these four new partners joining the Program,” said Reeta Roy, president and CEO of The MasterCard Foundation. “These universities are aligned with the Foundation’s vision of developing Africa’s next-generation leaders who will apply their ingenuity and empathy to drive progress in their communities and countries.”

These African universities are part of a global initiative.

The MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program is a 10-year, $500 million Program that hopes to inspire young people to lead change through education. Scholars receive holistic financial, social, academic and leadership development support to create pathways for them to transition to jobs, entrepreneurial activities or further education.

By the end of the Program, about 75 percent of the Scholars will be girls and young women.

The Program is significant at a time when global investments in education have dropped by 10 percent over the last two years, putting the achievement of existing and future education goals at risk – particularly for young women and girls.

“The pride of a higher education has created in me the urge to give back to society,” said Maame Kwamah Otsieku Baah, a MasterCard Foundation Scholar studying at KNUST in Ghana. “I believe that even if I cannot change the world, I can lead the change. True success can only be the measure of the value I add to the lives of others.”

Yvonne Sihle Mashaba, Maame Kwamah Otsieku Baah and other Scholars are available for media interviews. Read their biographies below.

The Foundation is an independent, global organization based in Toronto, Canada, with more than $9 billion in assets.

Through collaboration with partner organizations in 46 countries, it is creating opportunities for all people to learn and prosper.

The Foundation’s programs promote financial inclusion and advance youth learning, mostly in Africa. Established in 2006 through the generosity of MasterCard Worldwide when it became a public company, the Foundation is a separate and independent entity.

The policies, operations and funding decisions of the Foundation are determined by its own Board of Directors and President and CEO.