Providing affordable and good quality education to young professionals in Brazil

 

Project start-up:2009
Financing : $12 M senior loan
Partner:Anhanguera Educacional Participações (AESA)
 
Context
 
 
Only 20% of the 26 million 18-24 year olds in Brazil are enrolled in a higher education establishment, yet they can substantially improve their future income by getting a qualification. The Brazilian government is aware of the need to invest in this sector and has promoted private sector intervention as an effective complement to public services.
Anhanguera Educacional Participações (AESA) is the largest private listed higher education company in Brazil (capitalization to Sao Paulo: R$ 3.05 billion as at 31-12-2009). AESA is a leader in the vocational training and higher education sectors and provides high-quality training for low-income students at an affordable cost. Today, it counts 250 , 000 students in its network of 54 university campuses and 450 training centres.
 
Project objective
 
PROPARCO’s financing aims at supporting the development of a major Brazilian player in the higher education and vocational training sectors in order to provide an effective complement to weak public provision.
 
By promoting AESA’s development, PROPARCO is helping to disseminate an original education model that provides low-income young workers with both affordable and high-quality training.
 
Project description
 
For its first financing in the education sector in Brazil, PROPARCO has chosen to support AESA’s growth strategy by allocating it a $12M senior loan, alongside the International Finance Corporation and its German counterpart, DEG. AESA’s investment program totals roughly BRL100 million and specifically aims at purchasing new campuses, build new ones and extend some campuses that are already operational.
 
In Latin America, PROPARCO supports green and inclusive growth. To contribute to this overarching aim, PROPARCO focuses its efforts on developing higher education.
 
Impacts
 
AESA has a strong impact on Brazil’s development:
 
·       the company reaches an extremely large number of young professionals that are educated and trained each year;
 
·       it develops a range of affordable and high-quality university and professional training courses destined for low-income populations;
 
·       each year, AESA distributes millions of dollars worth of scholarships to students with the lowest incomes;
 
·       finally, AESA is strongly involved in local communities that benefit from its services free of charge: education, health, as well as Internet access or legal support.