Citizens Energy has been investing in the people of Angola since 1987 as part of its business initiatives involving Angola’s oil sector. In 1992, Alexandre Cardinal do Nascimento approached Michael LeMoyne Kennedy, the late Chairman of Citizens Energy, with his idea of an Angolan university. At that time, Michael Kennedy was in Angola on behalf of the U.S. State Department, serving as an observer of the first democratic elections in the country. As part of its mission, Citizens reinvests part of its profits back into the countries with which it is working, and Kennedy had sought sustainable ways to use Citizens' commercial success to help Angola recover from years of civil war. 

After a delay caused by the outbreak of war shortly after those elections, Kennedy was able to convince partner companies to join Citizens Energy in contributing to the Cardinal's dream of building a new institution of higher learning. Approximately, $1.6 million in initial funding was contributed by Citizens Energy, Mobil (USA), Saga (Norway), and Energy Africa (South Africa) and was used to create the Angola Educational Assistance Fund. While the purpose of the AEAF is to provide assistance to the Catholic University and to its education and research activities, it remains an independent organization, with separate governing bodies and separate funding mechanisms.

After the initial setup phase, the Catholic University was inaugurated in 1999. Today it has two campuses in the Luanda municipalities of Kinaxixi and Palanca and has over 4,000 students enrolled in a variety of programs, including economics, law, computer engineering, and human sciences. The establishment of the Catholic University is widely considered to be one of the most remarkable success stories of post-war Angola. The country is slowly moving toward a peaceful future, and one of the biggest challenges is the rebuilding of the country's new society. UCAN is an important contributor to this future as it educates young Angolans to become the leaders of the future.

While the Government of Angola is committed to funding Catholic University of Angola through levies on the nation’s oil production, the Angola Educational Assistance Fund assists with its continuous development by collaborating with the Government of Angola, multilateral and bilateral development agencies, non-governmental organizations, other universities, and private sector companies. Since the beginning of its collaboration with UCAN in 1996, AEAF has financed a variety of programs totaling more than $4 million. For additional information, please see: http://www.ucan.edu.