AAU Celebrates Five African Institutions Recognised for Higher Education Transformation

Accra, Ghana | September 2026

The Association of African Universities (AAU) warmly congratulates the five inaugural laureates of the Africa Higher Education for Transformation (AHEFT) Prize, honoured for their outstanding contributions to institution-wide transformation and to expanding opportunity for young people across Africa.

The awards were a major highlight of the Mastercard Foundation Higher Education Transformation Convening, held in Accra from 22-23 September 2026 under the theme “Reimagining Higher Education for Africa’s Human Capital.” The convening brought together leaders from across the higher education ecosystem to explore how African institutions can become stronger drivers of human capital development, innovation, employment and socio-economic progress.

The inaugural AHEFT Prize laureates are Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia, the International Institute for Water and Environmental Engineering (2iE) in Burkina Faso, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Ghana, Muni University in Uganda, and the University of Rwanda.

Each laureate was recognised for excellence in a specific area of transformation:

• Addis Ababa University – Excellence in Research and Innovation, for aligning research with national priorities and connecting scientific knowledge to economic opportunity and community wellbeing.
• 2iE – Excellence in Teaching and Learning, for practice-based engineering and technical education that produces highly employable graduates.
• KNUST – Excellence in Research and Innovation, for building a leading research-to-innovation ecosystem that translates research into startups and industry solutions.
• Muni University – Transitions to Employment, for creating effective pathways from education to employment for refugees and underserved youth.
• University of Rwanda – Excellence in Health, for strengthening Rwanda’s health system and training more than 26,000 health professionals.

Each laureate will receive US$3 million to strengthen and scale the work for which it was recognised. The Prize is backed by a US$500 million commitment over its first decade and aims to recognise at least 150 higher education institutions across Africa over that period.

The five institutions represent different contexts and areas of transformation, but their recognition points to a common thread: African higher education institutions can drive meaningful change when systems, knowledge, innovation and partnerships are deliberately connected to the needs of young people, communities and economies.

A Win for African Higher Education

For the Association of African Universities, the recognition is significant not only because of the achievements of the five laureates, but also because it reflects a broader truth: African higher education institutions are not waiting to be transformed – they are leading that transformation themselves.

The Mastercard Foundation’s President and CEO, Sewit Ahderom, captured this in remarks at the convening: “Transformation is not just a better university. It is a university that makes the whole economy around it work better for young people.”

Dr. John Nkengasong, the Foundation’s Executive Director for Higher Education and Strategic Initiatives, reinforced the point: “Higher education transformation is not simply an education agenda. It is an economic imperative.”

Marking the recognition, Prof. Olusola Oyewole, Secretary General of the Association of African Universities, said: “On behalf of the Association of African Universities, I extend our warmest congratulations to the five inaugural laureates of the AHEFT Prize. Their achievements affirm what we have long believed: that African higher education institutions are not simply beneficiaries of transformation – they are its architects. As Cluster Lead for the Higher Education, Research and Innovation cluster of CESA 2026 – 2035, the AAU stands in solidarity with every institution working to raise the bar for African higher education. We want to see many more institutions deliver excellent, transformative work – and we are committed to building the platforms, partnerships and continental coordination that make that possible.”

The convening discussions aligned with the African Union’s Decade of Education and Skills Development (2025- 2034), which calls for stronger education systems, improved learning outcomes and skills development consistent with the continent’s long-term priorities under Agenda 2063.

The recognition also resonates with the work of the Africa Climate Collaborative, for which the Association of African Universities serves as the backbone organisation. The Collaborative brings together the University of Cambridge, the University of Cape Town, the University of Ghana and Makerere University – with the Mastercard Foundation as funding partner and the AAU as backbone institution (secretariat) – around a shared vision of young people, especially women, leading Africa to climate resilience and climate-positive growth. Its purpose is to create opportunities for dignified and fulfilling work for Africa’s youth through workforce development, entrepreneurship advancement and innovative, impactful research within and between community-engaged universities. Several AHEFT laureates are advancing work in key areas -including climate, agriculture and STEM – the very capacity the Collaborative is working to strengthen across Africa’s higher education sector.

This work takes on added significance for the AAU as it advances its role as Cluster Lead for the Higher Education, Research and Innovation (HERI) cluster of the African Union’s Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA 2026-2035). In this capacity, the Association is positioned to convene governments, universities, development partners and the private sector around a shared continental agenda – connecting the lessons emerging from institutions like the AHEFT laureates to the wider systems, policies and partnerships that shape higher education across Africa.

The Association extends its sincere congratulations to Addis Ababa University, 2iE, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Muni University and the University of Rwanda on this historic recognition. We celebrate the leadership, faculty, staff, students and partners whose collective efforts have contributed to the transformation being recognised through the inaugural AHEFT Prize.

As African higher education continues to evolve, the achievements of these institutions remind us of what is possible when universities are empowered to innovate, collaborate and respond boldly to the needs of their societies. The AAU stands ready to support the laureates, and the wider African higher education community, in building on this momentum – so that the excellence demonstrated by these five institutions becomes visible, replicable and, ultimately, commonplace across the continent.

Congratulations to the five inaugural AHEFT Prize laureates. Their recognition is not a beginning, but an affirmation – evidence of what African higher education has long been capable of, and a signal of how much more becomes possible when that capability is recognised, resourced and scaled.