Commencing in 2024, Prof Alistair Mokoena, Google South Africa’s country director, pledged to donate R50 000 to the North-West University (NWU) annually. According to Prof Mokoena, the sum of the funding will go into the Dr Alistair Mokoena Education Fund and will be used to support any student in need of financial assistance.

Prof Mokoena believes contributing towards the advancement of knowledge and innovation can help enrich the educational experience of students beyond the classrooms.

“Lack of access to education is one of Africa’s key challenges, and South Africa is no exception. To reduce poverty, hunger, and inequality in our society we must invest in superior quality education,” he says.

The 2023 recipient of the Business Leadership award of the NWU Alumni Excellence Awards says it is the duty of the privileged to assist those in need.

“The Dr Alistair Mokoena Education Fund was inspired by Luke 12 verse 48, which says, ‘to whom much is given, much is expected’,” explains Prof Mokoena. He added: “Let us give the gift of education to the youth of our nation. It is the best preparation for the world that awaits them.”

Prof Alistair Mokoena is an extraordinary professor of practice at the NWU Business School and holds an industry award for the Global Brands best advertising and marketing leader in South Africa in 2019. He was also a top four finalist in the Institute for Marketing Management excellence awards in 2023.