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Rabat – With the Mastercard Foundation having invested $17 million to expand the presence of CorpsAfrica Organization in Africa for the next three years, OCP Group has pledged to support the organization’s plans to create more positive impact and enhance the leadership skills of African youth.
OCP Group has contributed to the incubation of the organization in Morocco, which was founded by Liz Fanning, a former Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco.
“The OCP Group is proud to support CorpsAfrica’s expansion beyond Morocco to Senegal, Rwanda and Malawi,” OCP said in a statement, noting that CorpsAfrica hosted around 300 volunteers over the last eight years.
The $17 million funding will also create 30.000 work opportunities for young Africans and enable them to become changemakers in public health, education, and economic development.
“We are committed to remaining a financial and programmatic partner to CorpsAfrica across the continent, reflecting our strong belief that Africa’s greatest resource is its people, and especially its young people,” OCP added, welcoming the Mastercard Foundation as a major donor to CorpsAfrica.
The donation will also enable CorpsAfrica to expand its sites to four other countries in addition to the four existing ones and develop the expertise of around 500 volunteers to work with local communities.
The four countries that are expected to host the CorpsAfrica program in 2022 are Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, and Ethiopia.
In a joint press release, CorpsAfrica and the Mastercard Foundation recalled previous initiatives taken by 56 young African volunteers who stayed in their host communities amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The volunteers put together over 70 public health and economic empowerment projects that have impacted over 53,000 people, noted the press release.
Fanning, who is also the executive director of CorpsAfrica, stressed the need to engage young Africans to create sustainable economic opportunities in rural areas.
Speaking of the three-year partnership, she outlined that it will “provide the resources to advance the program and ensure its sustainability across the continent.”
“Together, we can create a model for national and Pan-African service and participation that is collaborative and accountable to community development across the continent,” Fanning added.
For his part, Peter Materu, Chief Programs Officer at the Mastercard Foundation, stressed the pivotal role of CorpsAfrica in deploying service-minded youth to solve some of the most persisting issues in the continent.
“[CorpsAfrica] vision aligns with our Young Africa Works strategy to enable 30 million young people, particularly young women, to access dignified and fulfilling work and we are pleased to support their growth and expansion throughout the region,” Meteru said.
Founded in 2011, CorpsAfrica seeks to provide emerging leaders from Africa with opportunities to make a change within their countries with a focus on empowering local communities, training and monitoring volunteers for a positive and sustainable impact.
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