New at MCI: Herman Mashaba Scholarship

Once again, MCI | The Entrepreneurial ^School® is strengthening its international connections and appeal: together with the South African start-up entrepreneur, reformer and statesman Herman Mashaba, the brand new "Herman Mashaba Scholarship" is being launched to support students from South Africa in their Master's programme at MCI in Innsbruck.

The attractive scholarship is aimed at students who are characterised by previous academic achievements and committed study and career goals in the areas of entrepreneurship, social development and good governance. Having grown up in poverty and as a half-orphan, Herman Mashaba quickly became one of South Africa's most successful entrepreneurs with cult status in other countries by founding a hair care products company under the legendary "Black like me" brand.

In 2016-2019, he was elected mayor of the economic metropolis of Johannesburg at the first attempt and represented the second largest political party in South Africa in a coalition government of seven parties. When he announced his resignation before the end of his term as mayor, South Africans urged him to form his own political movement. On 29 August 2020, ActionSA was launched and is now ready to contest the upcoming provincial and national elections in 2024 with a determination to fight corruption, crime and social inequality, reform the economy and integrate South Africa into the democratic Western world.

Several personal lectures and workshops with students at MCI as well as an appearance at the are the inspiration for Herman Mashaba's long-standing friendship with the Entrepreneurial ^School® in Innsbruck, which will be further deepened by the new scholarship.

MCI Rector Andreas Altmann: "Herman Mashaba stands for what the MCI is also committed to: Research, education, innovation and entrepreneurship paired with social commitment and social responsibility. Against this background, the realisation of the Herman Mashaba Scholarship fills us with great pride, and we are delighted to support and collaborate with this great personality who refuses to accept existing conditions."

Herman Mashaba, entrepreneur, reformer, statesman: "With the MCI, an extraordinary university has been created that is also recognised and regarded as exemplary outside Europe. Reinterpreting education, research, innovation and social development, building international bridges and utilising them for the benefit of the location and its people has been achieved here in an impressive way. That is why I am delighted to be involved with this scholarship."