By Abdulai Fasineh Dumbiya
President Julius Maada Bio has received a $100 million no-collateral Educational Loan for 1,000 (one thousand) Sierra Leonean Graduates to Study Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), Masters in Business Administration (MBA), and Artificial Intelligence (AI) courses in the United States of America and Canada.
The symbolic presentation of the cheque was made to the Government of Sierra Leone through the Ministry of Employment, Labour, and Social Security (MELSS) by the SOS-Nekotech Centre of Excellence school programme on the 3rd October, 2023.
The programme is currently operating in seven African countries, including Sierra Leone, Ghana, Malawi, Kenya, and Cameroon. It started five years ago in Ghana and it is now being rolled out to all English-speaking African countries.
The Executive Director of the SOS-Nekotech programme, Rev. Dr. Princess Ocansey, on behalf of their organization congratulated President Bio on his re-election and praised his commitment to human capital development for Sierra Leoneans.
She described the moment as historic, especially when the President was more focused on building the human capital of the nation, adding that they were committed to supporting more graduates to further their education overseas. She noted that the country would soon be among the “first countries to be declared the home of ‘African Intelligence’, especially after the graduation of 1,000 Sierra Leoneans.”
Minister of Labour, Mohamed Rahman Swaray expressed delight that his ministry was leading the programme, reminding them that two years ago he joined the SOS team to officially launch the programme in Sierra Leone.
He added that while in America, upon the invitation of the SOS-Nekotech Centre of Excellence in 2023, speakers paid glowing tribute to President Bio for transforming Sierra Leone on the path to development.
He said the present generation was very lucky to have a President whose government was bringing education as an opportunity to the doors of citizens.
In his remarks, President Bio said he was happy to receive the cheque from SOS-Nekotech, on behalf of Sierra Leonean citizens, stressing that Africa must catch up with the rest of the world by investing in education.
He said that the most important resource of any country is that of its human capital where people are not only the beneficiaries of development but also the means to development.
“Therefore, if we want to embark on successful human capital development and national development, we must invest in the human capital of our country,” he said.
The President reiterated that human beings are the most precious assets of any nation, and until and unless the government invest in that capital through quality and fit-for-purpose education, the potential of the people can never be realized.
He noted that it took partners like SOS-Nekotech to work with his government to improve the human capital of Sierra Leone by ensuring that more graduates had the opportunity to be educated abroad. He expressed excitement about the loan assured of his government’s fullest support for the programme and prayed for all successful future graduates.
SOS-Nekotech is a privately owned Ghana-based college which aims to transform young people from 21 to 40 years old.
Copyright © 2023 Politico (06/10/23)
