The University of Rwanda has been named among the inaugural winners of the Africa Higher Education for Transformation (AHEFT) Prize, receiving the Excellence in Health award and a US$3 million grant in recognition of its contribution to strengthening Rwanda’s healthcare system and developing the country’s health workforce.
The award, launched by the Mastercard Foundation, recognizes African universities driving transformational change in higher education by expanding opportunities for young people through excellence in teaching, research, innovation and workforce development.
The University of Rwanda was recognized for training more than 26,000 health professionals and reaching nearly 500,000 people through its community-based clinical training model, outreach programmes and university health services. The institution has also established itself as a regional leader in digital health, vaccinology, biomedical engineering and health systems innovation.
The AHEFT Prize is backed by a US$500 million commitment from the Mastercard Foundation over the next decade and will recognize at least 150 African higher education institutions for driving sustained, system-wide transformation.
“For twenty years we have seen African institutions rethink what higher education can deliver. The AHEFT Prize turns that proof into momentum. We are backing homegrown excellence with a decade-long commitment, so that universities across the continent become engines of opportunity for millions of young people,” said Sewit Ahderom, President and CEO of the Mastercard Foundation.
The inaugural winners will be formally honored during the Higher Education Transformation Convening in Accra, Ghana, on September 22, 2026.
Other institutions recognized in the first cohort include Addis Ababa University of Ethiopia for Excellence in Research and Innovation, the International Institute for Water and Environmental Engineering (2iE) of Burkina Faso for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology of Ghana for Excellence in Research and Innovation, and Muni University of Uganda for Transitions to Employment.
Each institution will receive a US$3 million award to expand initiatives that improve educational and employment opportunities for young Africans.
Dr. John Nkengasong, Executive Director of Higher Education Initiatives at the Mastercard Foundation, said the initiative seeks to redefine the role of African universities in national development.
“This is the moment to reimagine what higher education institutions can do as engines of human capital development; not only as places of learning, but as a direct route to work, economic participation and a better future for young people across Africa,” he said.
The AHEFT Prize recognizes excellence across teaching and learning, research and innovation, entrepreneurship, transitions to employment, and priority sectors including health, climate and environment, agriculture, and STEM, digital and artificial intelligence. Applications for future award cycles will open to eligible higher education institutions across the continent.
