De Montfort University: Scholar on Track to Support Ghanas National Development

LEICESTER, England, Saturday, October 16th 2010 [ME NewsWire]:

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- After beating off competition from hundreds of applicants for a Commonwealth Shared Scholarship, one student from Ghana has arrived in the UK to study at De Montfort University (DMU) as the new academic year begins.


Yaa Ackor, 26, from Accra, was selected for the Department for International Development’s (DFID) Shared Scholarship scheme, which is being run at DMU in Leicester, UK, for the first time this year.


Co-financed by the UK government and DMU, the scholarship aims to equip a talented student from a developing Commonwealth country with the skills and knowledge needed to support their home-country’s national development. Funding flight costs, tuition fees and a living allowance, the scholarship provides a top postgraduate British education to outstanding Commonwealth students without the means to fund it themselves.


After finding out about the DFID Scholarship, Yaa chose to apply to DMU to study the MSc International Business and Corporate Governance postgraduate course.


She said: “When looking for a university, I wanted to choose the best school for what I wanted to do, and I had heard that De Montfort University has one of the leading Business Schools in the UK.


“In Ghana today, the ideology that profit is the main motivation for business is gradually changing. In light of this, I wanted to study this course to explore this subject and its implications and impact on the livelihood and living standards of locals.


“In 2007, oil was discovered in commercial quantities in the Western region of Ghana and drilling is expected to start by the end of this year. Drawing on lessons from the Niger Delta experience in Nigeria, there is a pressing need for Ghana to come out with policies and regulations that will ensure that revenue gained from the oil find is used to improve the lives of citizens, especially those in the immediate environs of the oil find.


“At the end of the course I hope to be able to provide advice on the necessary legal and institutional frameworks that will help solve the challenges that will arise from the oil industry in Ghana.”


DMU is offering the scholarship again in 2011/12 and the search has already begun for a gifted scholar to follow in Yaa’s footsteps.


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DMU Press Office
Nikki Godwin
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