By Theresa Kef Sesay
The Ministry of Finance has awarded a Le 205 million grant to 26 Sierra Leonean students studying in and out of the country for the first time in order to improve on the research capacity of these students who are currently doing their dissertations or thesis on economics.
The awarding ceremony took place on Friday 18th December at the Ministry of Finance Conference Hall in Freetown.
The Government of Sierra Leone, through the Ministry of Finance was provided Grant financing of US$750,000 by the African Development Bank. The purpose of the grant is to enhance policy development and implementation through research and capacity building. The Government took part in this grant to support dissertations/thesis writing for students studying Economics at undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate levels.
The Finance Ministry’s Chief Economist, Mr. Alimamy Bangura, said after the notice was sent out, he received several proposals from students, and these proposals were reviewed and the candidates that scored above 50 percent were shortlisted.
Twenty-six students were shortlisted from the University of Sierra Leone, Njala University, EBK University, and students studying overseas.
The Finance Ministry’s Director of Research, Dr. Yakama M. Jones said the review committee comprises staff of the Ministry of Finance, Bank of Sierra Leone, Statistics Sierra Leone, Lecturers from the University of Sierra Leone, Njala University, University of Makeni, and the Institute of Public Administration and Management.
She said the undergraduate students will receive Le 5 million each, Masters Le 10 million each, Doctorate Le 20 million each, and Le 30 million for students studying overseas.
The Principal Deputy Financial Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Mr. Mathew Dingie, during the symbolic handing over of cheques to the deserving students congratulated the winners and encouraged them to embark on researches that will contribute to policy development.
“Your research should able to attract grants from our development partners. Only research can help us to develop the right policies that are workable in Sierra Leone,” he said.
The Finance Ministry also on Friday 18th December launched the 2019 Economic Bulletin and also performed the STATA Training Certification Ceremony.
