Accra, Dec. 30, GNA- The Chairman of the Unilever Ghana Foundation for Education and Development (UFED), Mr Andrew Quayson on Tuesday stressed the need to invest in Africa's human resources to develop the requisite competencies and skills to manage the continent's economies. Mr Quayson said when Africans were given the needed training and skills, they would be better equipped to shape the directions of their countries using the abundant natural resources that the continent was endowed with.
Mr Quayson said this at the presentation ceremony by UFED in Accra where 12 students selected from the public universities were given undergraduates scholarship awards totalling 150 million cedis. The scholarship would cover the duration of courses of the awardees, including their residential and academic user fees, books and out of pocket allowances.
The scholarship to the 12 students who were selected from a total of 185 applicants was subject to continued good academic performances. The beneficiaries are; Ms Winifred Akua Nyanor, Frank Kwasi Opoku, Emmanuel Allotey, Erich Lah-Anyane and Elvis K. Tamakloe, all of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi. The others are Mr Alexander Teiku, Prisca Gyampongmaa-Gyapong, Esther Ofosu-Koranteng and David Tetteh-Quarshie of the University of Ghana, Legon.
The rest are Ms Monica Ndebugre of the University of Development Studies at Nyankpala in the Northern region, Theophilus Donkor, University of Cape Coast and Mawuse Akorli of the University of Education, Winneba.
Mr Quayson told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that the Foundation would continue to sponsor education of Ghanaians with the proceeds of the five billion cedis seed money given by the Unilever Company to help fund the education of brilliant students.
He said the seed money has been invested in various projects by the UFED.
He said the Foundation established four years ago has so far spent 2.98 billion cedis on scholarships of students including three postgraduate scholarships in the United Kingdom.
The chairman said all efforts should be made to find solution to the brain drain syndrome.
Ms Winifred Nyanor, a beneficiary was grateful to Unilever for assisting her with the cost of her education because it had relieved her parents of the financial burden of looking after her.
