The Mastercard Foundation has launched a new $500 million (Shs1.9 trillion) initiative aimed at transforming higher education across Africa, with five universities including Uganda’s Muni University named among the inaugural winners.
Dubbed the Africa Higher Education for Transformation (AHEFT) Prize, the decade-long initiative seeks to recognise and support institutions driving systemic change and expanding opportunities for young people on the continent.
The first cohort of winners includes Addis Ababa University, the International Institute for Water and Environmental Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Muni University and the University of Rwanda.
Each institution will receive $3 million to scale programmes that expand access to education and improve employment outcomes for young people.
Announcing the initiative, Sewit Ahderom, president and chief executive officer of the foundation, said the prize builds on two decades of investment in African education systems.
“For twenty years we have seen African institutions rethink what higher education can deliver. The AHEFT Prize turns that proof into momentum, backing homegrown excellence so universities can become engines of opportunity for millions of young people,” she said.
At Muni University, the recognition was attributed to its Refugee and Host Community Youth Empowerment and Transformation Initiative (RETI), which has created pathways to employment for refugees and underserved youth. The programme has enabled up to 70 per cent of participants to secure jobs within three months of completion.
Across the continent, the selected institutions were recognised for excellence in areas such as research, teaching, innovation and health systems strengthening.
Addis Ababa University was cited for aligning research with national development priorities and integrating academic work with public service delivery through partnerships such as Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital.
The International Institute for Water and Environmental Engineering was recognised for its practice-based approach to engineering education, with more than 70 per cent of its graduates securing employment within a year.
Similarly, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology was praised for building a strong research-to-innovation ecosystem that translates academic work into business ventures and job creation.
The University of Rwanda was recognised for its contribution to strengthening the country’s health system, having trained more than 26,000 health professionals and expanded community-based healthcare services.
The foundation said the AHEFT Prize will, over the next decade, recognise at least 150 institutions across Africa, focusing on key areas such as teaching and learning, transitions to employment, research and innovation, and priority sectors including health, climate and technology.
John Nkengasong, executive director for higher education initiatives at the foundation, said the programme is intended to redefine the role of universities in Africa’s development.
“This is the moment to reimagine higher education institutions as engines of human capital development—not only as places of learning, but as direct routes to work, economic participation and a better future for young people,” he said.
The initiative underscores growing recognition of the role universities play in addressing unemployment and driving inclusive growth across the continent.
