The Vice President of Liberia, Chief Jewel Howard-Taylor has applauded the Nekotech Centre of Excellence for introducing the innovative SOS-NEKOTECH-USA-Canada master’s degree work-study programme.

This programme aims at providing scholarships and educational loans for young Africans aspiring to pursue a master's degree in STEM in the USA and Canada.

This is five-year pilot programme, 2018-2023, which now has many students in the USA undergoing their STEM master's degrees, and working successfully having been fully funded through the no collateral loan programme.

According to the Liberian Vice President, the opportunity to acquire skills and knowledge is what African youths need to enhance their capacity to fend for themselves and also contribute meaningfully to their countries. V.P. 

H.E. Jewel Howard-Taylor was speaking at the virtual launch of the project which had participants from over twelve African countries in attendance.

On her part, the Executive Chairman of the Nekotech Centre, Her Excellency Rev. Dr. Princess Ocansey indicated that the fund is a no collateral loan which candidates will pay back while working in the USA/Canada for three years after two years of their STEM ( Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) and Artificial Intelligence master's degree programs.

The US allows for a three year optional practical training (OPT) of full time work for STEM candidates.

She bemoaned the fact that of the 1.4 billion Africans, less than 39,000 students are studying in the United States,  whereas South Korea with a population of 51 million, has over 40,000 students in the U.S. Out of the over 1.1 million foreign students in the U.S., Asia has 750,000 students who are mostly in the STEM field - and this is impacting their lives, changing many narratives from poverty to prosperity.

“Africa has a huge potential to change its fortunes by taking advantage of this STEM educational opportunity,” Dr.Princess Ocansey noted.

As a former US STEM student herself, a graduate of Rutgers University's College of Engineering in New Jersey, USA, she added that India went on a similar route of educating their youth in STEM programs,  and the result partly reflects in the over $85 billion in remittances India is enjoying annually, while Africa enjoys $46 billion.

Apart from that, Indian students have been able to attract top US Tech giants to India, where many worked during their OPT.  

She hopes that African leaders will take note and do the same to drive jobs home to end the chronic African youth unemployment.

She applauded Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Malawi, Zambia and Cameroon for kicking off this programme.