ESPRIT Group and Honoris United Universities Join Forces to Accelerate STEM Education in Africa

As a member of the Honoris pan-African network, engineering centre of excellence ESPRIT bolsters its STEM education capabilities across Francophone Africa and beyond
Tunis, 1^st December 2020

Today, Honoris United Universities, the first and largest pan-African network of private higher education institutions, deepened its focus on STEM education for the next generation of African leaders and entrepreneurs by welcoming ESPRIT Group into the organization.

Founded in 2003 by three pioneering Tunisian higher education academics – Prof. Tahar Ben Lakhdar, Prof. Naceur Ammar, and Prof. Mohamed Jaoua – ESPRIT Group provides students with a dynamic range of specialities and courses in computer engineering, telecommunications engineering, civil engineering, electromechanical engineering, and management science. The flagship school of the Group has accredited all its programs with the French accreditation agency “Commission des Titres d’Ingénieurs” (CTI) and the French Conference des Grandes Ecoles and is an active member of the CDIO initiative (Conceive Design Implement Operate). These recognitions demonstrate the world-class pedagogy created by ESPRIT’s faculty and have contributed to strongly positioning Tunisia as an academic centre of excellence for STEM education within the global research and innovation ecosystems.

As the newest member of the Honoris network, ESPRIT Group significantly boosts Honoris’ pan-African strengths in engineering and in STEM education, critical areas for developing highly skilled and competitive professionals in the African, digital and globally disrupted worlds of work. Moreover, the addition of ESPRIT to the Honoris family of institutions provides students across the entire network with access to innovative teaching methods – such as an active pedagogy methodology – and to strong relationships with the international industrial and business worlds, elements that have made ESPRIT the go-to institution for engineering qualifications.

Commenting on the announcement, Honoris CEO Luis Lopez said “Welcoming the highly regarded ESPRIT Group into Honoris United Universities adds significant breadth and expertise to the network and its pan-African mission as students across the entire continent will have access to best of class industry-oriented STEM education. ESPRIT Group students will also gain access to diverse academic experiences at Honoris, based on our Education for Impact ethos and a singular focus on preparing for a Fourth Industrial Revolution world of work. This partnership is a unique opportunity to build on the legacy of ESPRIT by expanding its success and impact to Africa’s future leaders. I congratulate ESPRIT Group for its significant trajectory and look forward to our future journeys.”

As one of the largest education organizations in Northern Africa, the ESPRIT Group comprises four institutions including a tertiary engineering/technology school, a tertiary business school, a kindergarten and primary school (Al-Kindi), and a secondary school (Al Fikr). The integration of the group complements Honoris’ robust foundations in traditional education and in 21st Century learning ecosystems covering collaborative, solutions-oriented and creative ways of thinking. This structure across the broad age groups prepares graduates with a future-ready mindset upon reaching tertiary education or the workplace.

Tahar Ben Lakhdar, CEO of ESPRIT Group said, “There is a very clear shared set of values between ESPRIT Group and Honoris – a challenging, disruptive and innovative pedagogical model that places prime importance on learning for solutions and educating for impact, a firm belief in the power of collaboration and shared experiences; and a desire to build capacity to put Africa on the global business map with highly skilled and internationally competitive professionals. As we enter our eighteenth year, the faculty that has helped build this winning establishment will now join hands with a unique, international academic model for further future success.”

Amidst the global challenges of COVID-19, Honoris continues to expand its footprint in Africa by recently welcoming Nile University of Nigeria and Red & Yellow Creative School of Business in South Africa to its network. ESPRIT represents the 14th institution in the Honoris network, which is now home to 57,000 students across the continent.

Extending from Casablanca to Cape Town and from Abuja to Tunis to Mauritius, the Honoris network is now present in 10 countries and 32 cities, amassing significant expertise in contact, distance, and online education. Its institutions are well established authorities within the disciplines of Medical & Health Sciences, Engineering, IT, Business, Law, Architecture, Creative Arts & Design, Media, Political Science and Education.