As part of its efforts to support communities, the mining company IAMGOLD Essakane SA has initiated a program of national scholarships for excellence. As part of this program, the mining company and the Ministry of Higher Education and Innovation (MESRI) signed an agreement on February 03, 2023. On September 08, 2023 in Ouagadougou, IAMGOLD Essakane SA organized a ceremony to hand over computers to the 32 students who will benefit from this program for the year 2022-2023. The recipients are the best graduates of the 2022 session, including 16 girls and 16 boys. Among the recipients there are 10 scholarships, including 05 boys and 05 girls from the Sahel region. These national scholarships for excellence have been introduced from the 2022-2023 academic year to support these students in their studies. The total value of the program is 271.600 million F CFA. In addition to these laptops, scholarship holders will benefit from many other components, including a first equipment allowance, an annual kit, a monthly allowance paid at the same rate as the national scholarship, and the coverage of tuition fees for beneficiary students.
According to the mine’s General Director, Tidiane Barry, this gesture is in line with the company’s vision of sharing the wealth generated by mining with stakeholders both nationally and in the Sahel region. He added that this scholarship aims to contribute to the promotion of excellence, a corporate value, and to create better conditions for the study and training of human resources.
The ceremony was attended by Pascal Nikièma, Scholarship Manager at the Direction générale du conseil à l’orientation universitaire et des bourses (DGCOB ex CIOSPB). He praised the mine’s civic-minded gesture. “We can only be proud of this company, which is truly a good corporate citizen. Essakane has been supporting the Ministry of Higher Education with scholarships for around ten years. It began with Burkina Faso’s first BAC and the first BAC in the Sahel Region, and has now been extended to all students in Burkina,” he declared.
In addition to its national excellence scholarship, since the 2022-2023 academic year IAMGOLD Essakane has also been awarding scholarships to the children of its employees, who are its primary resource. Again this year, 05 scholarships were awarded to the children of employees who obtained the BAC with an average of 12/20 or higher (i.e. 10 scholarships over the past 02 years).
These scholarships for workers’ children cover the cost of higher education over 5 years, with a monthly allowance during the period.
The recipients of these two categories of scholarships expressed their gratitude to the company. Éric Kambiré is the winner of the Essakane National Excellence Scholarship, with an average of 14.88 out of 20 in the BAC C exam. According to him, the computer will enable him to significantly improve his study skills and save time. He thanked Essakane, the DGCOB and all those who made the grant possible. Shaïda Asmao Ouédraogo is a beneficiary of the scholarship for children of mine workers. She holds a BAC A with an average grade of 12.44/20. “I received the IAMGOLD Essakane SA scholarship thanks to my father, who works for the company. I got a computer and an allowance that will enable me to study law at Saint Thomas d’Aquin University. I’m very happy and proud too, because it’s an opportunity we’ve been given. I’d like to thank the General Director and the whole Essakane company for this precious gift”, she said.
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