Dr. Santos Gracia Villar, president of the Iberoamerican University Foundation (FUNIBER), together with Dr. F. Álvaro Durántez Prados, professor of the Universidad Europea del Atlántico (European University of the Atlantic, UNEATLANTICO) and director of Institutional Relations of the Foundation, along with the director of the Instituto Cervantes (Cervantes Institute, IC), Dr. Luis Manuel García Montero and the directors of the institute, formalized a joint action protocol to promote the dissemination of Ibero-American culture through the teaching of the Spanish language in Angola via the Universidade Internacional do Cuanza (International University of Cuanza, UNIC).
The senior executives of Instituto Cervantes (IC) and FUNIBER met at the IC headquarters in Madrid, Spain, where they signed the collaboration agreement expressing the concurrence of their visions and objectives regarding the dissemination of education, culture, and the Spanish language around the world, with particular interest in Portuguese-speaking countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including Angola, an area in which further development is expected in the future. The collaboration between the two institutions will materialize through the Universidade Internacional do Cuanza (UNIC), a FUNIBER university project.
The formalization of these joint actions follows the meeting held in January 2024 between the director of the IC, the director of Institutional Relations of FUNIBER, and a high Angolan delegation formed by the former vice-president of the Republic of Angola, Dr. Bornito de Sousa, who attended on behalf of the Bornito de Sousa Foundation (FBS). Diplomats from the African country were also present at the meeting. In this context, the institutions shared their willingness to strengthen ties to work for the teaching of Spanish, developing academic teacher training programs in Spanish and supporting the scientific and technical training of Angolans.
The integration of UNIC is not a coincidence, since the Universidad Europea del Atlántico (UNEATLANTICO), a higher education center that is part of the university network with which FUNIBER participates, is a center accredited by the IC for the teaching of Spanish, which has allowed to reinforce a greater articulation of the multinational space of Iberophony and intercontinental student mobility, thanks to the agreements sustained by FUNIBER.
UNEATLANTICO is the third center in all of Cantabria to be accredited by the Instituto Cervantes; the university has updated teaching staff trained by the IC itself to ensure quality teaching for all students who are not native Spanish speakers. The Language School offers courses at different levels: mainly basic level courses, A1, A2, and intermediate level courses, B1, B2. Advanced courses at C1 and C2 level are also available upon request. These courses are offered extensively, i.e., throughout the first or second quarter, following the same format as any other degree.
The signed action protocol will further enhance the work of UNIC, located in Cuito, Bié province. It is an institution of higher education with a philosophy focused on Ibero-Americanism and Iberophony, with faculty from Spanish-speaking countries and where the entire Portuguese-speaking student body studies and learns Spanish during the first academic year of all degree programs, thus highlighting the value of intercomprehension between the two international Iberian languages.
UNIC’s work in the promotion, support, research, and development of the Spanish language in the heart of Angola was recognized with the University of the Year Archiletras Award in June 2023.
FUNIBER is an institution committed to educational, cultural, and technical cooperation, essentially in the field of higher education, which develops its mission in favor of societies —particularly in Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries (Iberophone Space)— by promoting projects and participating in academic, scientific, and research activities, as well as cooperation oriented towards development and economic growth. It uses links with university centers to offer a university and global education while respecting local identities.
For its part, the IC also has an extensive network of centers to promote the universal teaching, study, and use of Spanish.