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| The foundation Crusade for a New Humanity has set itself the
task of fighting the misfortunes that afflict
mankind |
Alvaro Noboa Ponton was
born to Luis Noboa and Isabel Ponton in Guayaquil,
Ecuador, on 21 November 1950. His life is a clear
example of leadership, of the capacity to oppose
what is improperly established, of the will to stand
by his principles, of the discipline required to
change habits, of the perseverance to fulfil the
cherished dreams of his heart, of the capacity to
create and maintain large companies and of the gift
to govern. These qualities have made Alvaro excel
as the entrepreneurial, social and political leader
of Ecuador.
Alvaro was first educated
at San Jose La Salle Catholic School in Guayaquil,
where he scored top grades. At the age of 13 he
travelled to Switzerland to study at Le Rosey School,
one of the most prestigious schools in the world.
Alvaro, surrounded by classmates made up of both
European royalty and future magnates, excelled by
winning the Coupe Lutteur prize, awarded only to
the school’s most academically distinguished students.
After his graduation, Alvaro returned to Ecuador
and revalidated his social/philosophical studies
when he once again excelled by obtaining the single
highest grade in his class.
He chose law as a career
and chose to attend, from amongst all the universities
in the country, the State University of Guayaquil.
This astonished his classmates and teachers as Alvaro
had chosen a school intended for students from lower-income
families. His choice enabled him to meet, understand
and become friends with lower- and middle-income
students with whom he has since maintained contact
throughout his life. His fine academic performance
earned him a degree allowing him to practice law
in Ecuador. Alvaro, however, decided to pursue his
professional career in the business field as a successful
entrepreneur.
The
entrepreneur
Alvaro acquired most
of his fortune through hard work. Alvaro Noboa
is a self-made billionaire, and although his father
was also a billionaire, Alvaro pursued his own business
path. On the television programme ‘Quiero ser Presidente’
(‘I want to be President’) Noboa confessed: "I was
already a multi-millionaire by the age of 27. When
I turned forty-three, my father passed away, leaving
me 7 million dollars out of a fortune of 1.2 billion
dollars. I'm grateful."
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Alvaro Noboa
CEO of Grupo Noboa |
Indeed in 1973, at the
age of 23, he began in the real estate business
by establishing Promandato Global S.A., a firm that
unites a construction company, an urban development
company and several real estate companies, with
assets hovering around £90 million. In 1998 it was
considered to be one of the largest firms in Ecuador.
In 1986, he established ‘La Verdad’, a monthly magazine.
In 1990, he founded Banco del Litoral, one of Ecuador’s
most reliable banks. Two years later, he established
the Global Financing Company and other investment
companies on an international scale. All these companies
and businesses together became known as Grupo de
Empresas Ab. Alvaro Noboa P.
The experience that Alvaro
Noboa gained from handling his own companies, in
addition to the courses he took in business administration
at the American Management Association, helped him
assume the leadership of two more groups of companies:
Noboa Group in 1994 and Noboa Corporation in 1997.
Today, he controls more than one hundred companies,
which include industrial, agro-industrial, shipping,
automotive, real estate and financial concerns.
The
humanitarian
In 1977, the special
social sensitivity that his mother Isabel Ponton
and his grandmother Zoila de Noboa always instilled
in Alvaro took shape in the establishment of Fundación
Cruzada Nueva Humanidad (Crusade for a New Humanity
Foundation), which began with the philosophy of
fighting misery, disease, ignorance, spiritual weakness,
hatred and other misfortunes that afflict man. The
Foundation is based on the Christian beliefs of
love, unity and self-improvement; beliefs manifested
in its deeds. Twenty-seven years later, the foundation
continues with its mission.
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| Commercial success has paved the way to politics, and in 2002
Noboa founded the Prian Political Party |
The
politician
Alvaro’s life passed
without major incident until the entrepreneur decided
to pursue public life. In August 1996 he was appointed
president of Ecuador's monetary board. While running
this institution Alvaro managed to raise the international
monetary reserves of Ecuador from £787 million to
£1.1 billion in six months, and to lower interest
rates by 12 percentage points. Since then, the monetary
reserves of Ecuador, despite the country adopting
the US dollar as its currency, have not reached
the peak that Alvaro Noboa achieved.
In 1998, Alvaro Noboa
became the outside runner in the presidential elections.
He achieved a technical draw with the man who then
became President of Ecuador. Alvaro’s popularity
was left unscathed, and on 20 September 2002 all
polling companies with the exception of one predicted
that Alvaro Noboa would have become President of
Ecuador if the elections had been held on that day.
Today, polls show that Alvaro Noboa remains the
number one choice of the Ecuadorian citizen to become
the next President of Ecuador.
In 2002, Alvaro inspired
and guided the foundation of the Prian Political
Party. The Party was an immediate success and gained
ten seats in congress in less than six months after
its establishment.
During the last presidential
campaign, Alvaro’s mission was consistent with his
career path and life. The mission stated the need
to fight corruption, reactivate the economy, provide
jobs for all Ecuadorians, promote low-income housing
for all citizens, establish a national health plan
and implement an education plan. Today, Alvaro Noboa
is seen as a political, economic and social leader
in Ecuador. |
