WDI has received 100 applications for the 15 spots in the Goldman Sachs BBA Scholarship Program, which begins in August at the School of Finance and Banking (SFB) in Kigali, Rwanda.
The scholarship program focuses on underprivileged but qualified women regardless of age. The first 15 scholarships will be awarded in August and the second set of 15 scholarships will be given out in January 2009.
The Institute’s Development Consulting Services (DCS), in cooperation with SFB, has undertaken the design and implementation of the Goldman Sachs BBA Scholarship Program. The Vice Rector for Academic Affairs at SFB has started the pre-selection process of the 100 applicants.
Following that, a scholarship committee consisting of the Vice Rector, one WDI representative and three distinguished Rwandans from outside the school will choose the scholarship recipients. The recipients will be judged on financial need and academic readiness, among other things.
All scholarship recipients will receive counseling and mentoring by the program manager and SFB faculty to ensure academic success. The intention is to award 15 renewable scholarships each year, with the program eventually reaching 60 women.
The Goldman Sachs BBA Scholarship Program comes at an opportune time because the Government of Rwanda has substantially reduced funding for scholarships for the 2008 academic year due to budgetary constraints.
DCS is entering the third year of its engagement with the Government of Rwanda to provide capacity-building programs at SFB. The objective is to transform the school into a regional center of excellence in business education.
In March, Goldman Sachs kicked off a new initiative called 10,000 Women. It will provide 10,000 women, predominantly in developing and emerging markets around the world, with a business and management education over the next five years. WDI is one of a select group of leading institutions and business schools – which includes Harvard Business School, Wharton, Brown, and Columbia - partnering with Goldman Sachs to deliver programs in countries such as India, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, and Tanzania.
In addition to the scholarship program, WDI also is organizing the Goldman Sachs Entrepreneurship Certificate Program - a six-month practitioner program aimed at existing and aspiring entrepreneurs.
The program was designed from scratch by WDI and SFB faculty and focuses on giving participants the knowledge and skills needed to launch or expand business enterprises in Rwanda. WDI will deliver two programs in the first year, with 30 participants in each program. As with the scholarship program, the entrepreneurship program will involve extensive outreach to remote areas of the country.