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The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, and the President of the E4Impact Foundation, Letizia Moratti, today signed a partnership agreement to develop joint training programmes for entrepreneurs in sub-Saharan Africa that integrate education and culture for sustainable development. The ceremony took place in Paris, at UNESCO’s Headquarters.
E4Impact has been operating in Africa since 2010 and has trained close to 400 entrepreneurs in Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Sierra Leone, and Uganda through partnerships between African Universities and the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Milan, Italy and is currently expanding its programmes to Angola, Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.. E4Impact’s unique MBA programmes are contributing to the development of entrepreneurship in Africa with teaching that focuses both on economic success and positive social impact.
Africa is a priority region for UNESCO, which will contribute its expertise in education and culture, including creative industries, to E4IMPACT’s entrepreneurial education programmes in the continent.
Welcoming the Agreement, UNESCO’s Director-General said: “Together UNESCO and the E4IMPACT Foundation can support African universities in their efforts produce a new generation of young business women and men who are not only entrepreneurs but global citizens – versed in equitable quality education, skilled in intercultural dialogue, innovative in knowledge sharing, and committed to bringing a positive impact to their communities and countries. […] Our partnership with the E4IMPACT Foundation will contribute to delivering on the promise of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.”
Sustainable development in Africa is a common objective of UNESCO and E4IMPACT. The partnership will allow both to work together within the framework of the 2030 United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17th Goal, which sets out to “strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.”
According to Letizia Moratti: “The principle objective of our Foundation is to enhance the sustainable development of Africa by favouring the formation of impact entrepreneurs and the growth of their businesses. By signing this Partnership Agreement we intend to reinforce the initiatives of cultural and educational entrepreneurship present in African. Transferring management competences in the fields of culture and education is fundamental for the economic sustainability of these initiatives.”
The partnership agreement aims to promote inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all, including educational planning, entrepreneurship training, education for sustainable development, and higher education capacity-building. It also sets out to support culture and development, notably through joint initiatives promoting cultural diversity, creative industries, and inter-cultural dialogue.
The partnership will mobilize E4IMPACT’s alliance of Universities in Africa, including MBA courses. It will benefit students and contribute to capacity-building for the African Universities E4IMPACT works with.
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Merdia contacts:
UNESCO: Roni Amelan, r.amelan(at)unesco.org +33(0)1 45 68 16 50
E4IMPACT: Jessica Vaghi, jessica.vaghi(at)unicatt.it, +39 02 7234 8373
About E4IMPACT:
E4Impact Foundation, launched in 2015 by Securfin, Mapei, Salini-Impregilo, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore and the Association Always Africa, has the objective of enhancing the sustainable development of fast growing economies by supporting the training of impact entrepreneurs and their businesses.