The MasterCard Foundation announced that over 2 300 university students will be able to study in classrooms in Uganda, South Africa and Ghana by early next year. The Foundation 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.

This collaboration builds on the foundation’s growing network of global education partners 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 (in Ghana), the University of Pretoria and Makerere University (in Uganda) 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 fulfil 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 ten-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% of the scholars will be young women. The Program is significant at a time when global investments in education have dropped by 10% over the last two years, putting the achievement of existing and future education goals at risk ‒ particularly for young women.

For more information on the Foundation, please visit www.mastercardfdn.org .