NBC AWARDS NELSON MANDELA SCHOLARSHIP TO FIVE STUDENTS

The National Bank of Commerce (NBC) has sponsored five form six graduates through its scholarship programme to African Leadership University in Rwanda.

The five, according to NBC press release, will attend three and four-year courses as part of the scholarships that seek to identity innovative skills among young energetic Africans.

NBC Human Resource Business Partner, Pamela Kieti-Sweke, said the programme aimed at promoting self-reliance and innovative skills among students through essay writing competitions.

“These [five] are competent ones,” Ms Kieti-Sweke said during the announcing of the award winner ceremony.

She added the five wrote impressive essays that could bring an impact to the society.

Ms Kieti-Sweke said thousands of students applied for the scholarship but the five “emerged winners by proving that they have creativity skills.” NBC Citizenship Manager, Irene Peter, said the scholarship aims at identifying skills that are hidden among youths most in remote and urban areas.

“They are leaving on Saturday this week for Rwanda. They will undergo a six-month training on leadership skills thereafter a full funded programme either in ICT or telecommunication,” she said.

The three winners came from Arusha Secondary Schools in Arusha and two others from Dar es Salaam and Iringa.

Fatuma Ibrahim from Dar es Salaam, one of the selected students said that she was very pleased with the scholarship and promised to do her level best and become one of the competent engineers in the future.

Another award winner, Goodluck Saisel from Arusha, said the programme is not only an opportunity for them but also a stepping stone for the champions to become qualified professionals in different disciplines.

Saisel said in his early school days in Iringa he managed to create a website that his fellow students used to access for various materials such as books and literature studies.

Since the programme inception in 2003, through the Mandela Rhodes Foundation, a total of 200 Mandela Rhodes Scholarships have been awarded.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Rhodes Trust via Mandela Rhodes Foundation offer Rhodes Scholarships to African students every year.

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