KIGALI - At least fifteen deserving women have secured scholarships under the Goldman Sachs BBA Scholarships Programme through which they will pursue their degrees at the School of Finance and Banking (SFB).

Goldman Sachs is a leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm with an agenda of assisting 10,000 women entrepreneurs around the globe in entrepreneurial skills.

Launched by Goldman Sachs, the programme dubbed ‘10,000 Women’ is a significantly new initiative that will increase the number of less privileged women receiving business and management education to improve the quality and capacity of businesses globally in those areas.

Speaking to The New Times, Prof. Krishna Govendor the SFB Rector and representative of David Williamson Institute (DWI) which helped secure the scholarships from Goldman Sachs said that the institute was mandated to transform SFB into an international business school. The scholarship program started last year.

According to Agnes Uzarerwa, the programme manager of the Goldman Sachs BBA programme, about 1,100 women had applied for the scholarships this year. Fifty were short-listed and only fifteen qualified.

"The selections for these scholarships target people who have the potential to study but don’t have the means, so the fifteen who qualified fell into that category,” said Uzarerwa.

Addressing the beneficiaries, Prof. Govendor advised them to utilise the chance to get the best out of it and that they should expect constant inspection by Goldman Sachs, as the company always wants updates of its beneficiaries.

The scholarships that are offered by Goldman Sachs cover all academic requirements including accommodation and some money for daily upkeep that students may need in their stay at the school during the entire course which normally takes four years to complete.

This year’s group of beneficiaries is the second since the programme was launched at SFB last year.

Rosemary Kobusingye one of this year’s beneficiaries expressed gratitude for having secured the scholarship.

"I am so happy because I finished A-level in 2006 but had since failed to join the university due to lack of means…I am so thankful to Goldman Sachs that has given me the opportunity to further my studies,” said Kobusingye.

Goldman Sachs also gives six-month scholarships to sixty women interested in business studies every year for certificates in entrepreneurship with the first group graduating in February this year.

Ends