Actis International Scholarships Winners

London – June 26th, 2018

Three students from across the Honoris United Universities, the first private pan-African higher education network, have been awarded the Actis International Scholarship. Viraksha Chetty, MBA graduate from Regent Business School, South Africa has won the opportunity of a lifetime to join the Women Transforming Leadership programme at the prestigious University of Oxford whilst Akram Maaroufi, graduate of Engineering in Petrochemical Chemistry and recent graduate, Chourouk Haouel, Université Centrale Tunisia have won a scholarship to study the Master in Energy Management programme at ESCP Europe, London Campus.

“These scholarships reflect the core of Honoris United Universities’ values of international mobility and collaborative intelligence,” says Luis Lopez, CEO of Honoris United Universities. “We are proud to be shaping and building Africa’s next generation of entrepreneurs and leaders by providing high quality, accessible education. We are delighted that our graduates will benefit from this opportunity to further widen their horizons and firmly believe that they will also offer fantastic perspectives, forged in Africa, to these leading establishments.”

Dr Ahmed Shaikh, Managing Director of Regent Business School, echoes this sentiment. “I am absolutely delighted that one of our students has won the opportunity to gain such invaluable, experience at one of the most prominent institutions in the world,” says Shaikh. “The training and skills that we impart here at our institution equips students for a global career and Viraksha will certainly be able to build on this solid foundation at Oxford. We are proud of her achievement and look forward to hearing about her experiences when she returns.”

Further to these sentiments, Kais Mabrouk, International Partnerships Director, Université Centrale interjects “Excellence and talent are qualities that we have been cultivating in our University for over 25 years now. Today, we are pleased to open new horizons to our bright students through international mobility. The scholarship, awarded by Actis, reinforces a key element in our policy for international mobility. Thanks to this initiative, our scholarship students will be able to cross the doors of the best European universities. This experience will give them the opportunity to connect with talented students around the world and to life changing experience. Congratulations to them and thank you to Actis.”

Shami Nissan, Head of Responsible Investment, Actis goes on to say “Actis Acts is delighted to sponsor these scholarships for three deserving Honoris’ graduates and the benefits we see in international mobility. Through the companies we have invested in, we employ over 100,000 people across Africa. We know that African businesses have international ambitions and we understand that they are looking for candidates with global perspectives who also understand the diversity of Africa and its local markets, while demonstrating the skills to operate successfully.”

Actis International Scholarships are awarded via Actis Acts, the charitable arm of Actis. Actis Acts through its various initiatives, aims to support a wide variety of themes including education, gender, skills development, entrepreneurship, capacity building, health, environment, and financial inclusion.