Powering Pan-African Digital Education

A Q&A with Luis Lopez, CEO of Honoris United Universities

African education sees the highest rate of exclusion than any other area of the world. Over one in every five children (ages six to 11) are out of school, and one third of young learners between the ages of 12 and 14 are not involved in academic learning.

There are several factors that contribute to this level of exclusion. A basic example is the lower income on average per family in comparison to other areas of the world – a factor that naturally pushes forward a career and working attitude rather than that of continued education.

On the contrary, African higher education (in countries such as Ethiopia for example) has been expanding.

Honoris United Universities is the first private pan-African higher education network and has been preparing and educating the next generation of African leaders and professionals since 2017.

Alongside various institutions, such as Red & Yellow Creative School of Business – that has been an integral part of the creativity and media sector in South Africa for 25 years – Honoris provides aspiring students with the teaching and opportunities to reach the summit of their aims and achievements.

Honoris’s CEO, Luis Lopez, has had

the privilege of working for the network since its inception, and answers our questions regarding the industry and the network’s part within it.

Africa Outlook (AFO): Tell us about your career and how you became interested in the education sector.

Luis Lopez (LL): Before Honoris, I partnered with a mentor to attempt a start-up agri-business. Prior to this entrepreneurial window, I worked in leadership roles at Laureate International Universities, building the network over 13 years across the globe. That experience as an entrepreneur, and the period building an international education organisation, led me to Honoris.

It was during my time at Laureate that I accumulated a broad exposure to post-secondary education, especially in growth markets. I was particularly drawn to Honoris because of its pioneering pan-African vision and the tangible commitment its founders displayed to preparing and educating the next generation for future challenges and opportunities at home, regionally, and on the global stage.

I was further motivated by the potential to establish the organisation’s core values of collaborative intelligence, agility, and mobility. The idea being that these values, together with the underlying formal and “real world” learning, lead to a cross-border, multicultural academic and professional experience, shared across Honoris, and this prepares our students, graduates, and their communities.

I am a strong believer in the transformative nature of learning and education, from the level of the individual to helping build the nation. Having had the opportunity to live education in various settings, from my own path to the professional stage, I continue to be optimistic about its merits and future expressions, particularly with the advent of advanced technologies.

AFO: What is your view on the provision of higher education in Africa currently?

LL: Higher Education is moving through a very exciting, rapidly evolving, and challenging period. The continent faces the well documented youth demographic boom, which is as much of a challenge as it is an opportunity.

The answer to this is to enable enterprise through the nurturing of an innovation ecosystem. Simply put, this requires the development of a population that has the skills needed