“Today, through ProFuturo, we are working to ensure that a child in Abuja (Nigeria) has access to a quality education, just as a child in Berlin has. This will lead that child to a whole new world of opportunity”, explained César Alierta, president of ProFuturo, during his speech at the G20 ‘Compact with Africa’ forum, a symposium of cooperation with the continent which seeks to start reformist commitments in African countries.
As chairman of Fundación Telefónica and Fundación ProFuturo, César Alierta has participated in the “G20 Africa Partnership –Investing in a Common Future” conference, where he presented the high-impact digital educational programme, ProFuturo. Started up by Fundación Telefónica and Fundación Bancaria “la Caixa”, it is hoped it will reach 10 million children by 2020 with the aim of reducing the educational divide in the world by providing a quality digital education to boys and girls in vulnerable environments of Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and South-east Asia.
“The results have so far been spectacular. Children who had previously shown no interest in subjects that were very difficult to assimilate, now get involved to an unprecedented degree”, said Cesár Alierta, during his speech at the G20 Compact with Africa symposium. This forum was one of the central themes at the “G20 Africa Partnership – Investing in a Common Future“ conference, which focused on the need to promote opportunities for private investors in African countries. In addition to referring to the creation of a favourable business environment and to sustainable development, education was one of the leitmotifs of the discussion.
“We are moving forward with real solutions for real problems. We have been working in Latin America for ten years, and in 2016, we set off on our journey through Africa. By the end of 2016, we had 3.8 million children using our digital education programmes. The aim is to reach 10 million children by 2020 and 50 million by 2030”, stated Alierta.
The chairman of ProFuturo has judged the cost of providing children from disadvantaged countries with the opportunity to receive a level of education on a par with that in the West, as being a viable, necessary investment. Alierta also announced that a “three-way” agreement had been reached with Nigeria’s Northern States Governors’ Forum and the Church, aimed at bringing this digital educational solution to the communities of that country. This is an agreement which, he says, “can be repeated” in other settings and countries.
Implementation in Nigeria
Cesár Alierta recently travelled to the country’s capital, Abuja, to sign a collaboration agreement with Kashim Shettima, Chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum and Governor of the State of Borno; the archbishop of Kaduna, Matthew Man-oso Ndagoso, on behalf of the Episcopal Conference of Nigeria, and Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, founder of the Kukah Centre.