In 2019, six Italian universities – University of Bologna, University of Florence, Politecnico di Milano, University of Naples Federico II, University of Padua and Sapienza University of Rome – with the crucial support of the Ministry of Universities and Research, joined together aiming at contributing to facilitate and strengthen the collaboration and the integration between Italian and African higher education institutions with a special attention to transnational education approaches.

The effort culminated in the establishment of the IHEA Foundation – Italian Higher Education with Africa.

IHEA Foundation calls for a reassessment of internationalization as an asset of science diplomacy by fostering the collaborations between Italian and African universities, also by means of strengthening the presence of Italian universities abroad, with the ultimate aim of contributing, in line with the essence of academic cooperation, to local and autonomous development

The IHEA Foundation was formally launched in October 2020 to promote an innovative and collaborative approach to transnational higher education across the African continent, from the Mediterranean region to Sub-Saharan Africa. The Foundation’s transnational education strategy foresees the launch of an Italian transnational campus abroad awarding first, second and third level degrees, and other advanced training courses to be delivered in African countries jointly with local African universities and their staff members.