By East african News agency
12th February 2012
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"The scholarships will be offered to students who fulfill the academic requirements and acceptance to the CMU Rwanda programmes upon completion of an evaluation form for the assessment of the student's financial needs by the Ministry of Education," the ministry said in a statement.
The scholarships will be for Professional Development short courses and for Masters in Science in Information Technology.
CMU is affiliated to a US research institution that offers graduate degrees in Africa. Scholarships will amount to 50 percent of the global tuition fee for the Masters programme and up to 50 percent of the enrolment fee for the Professional Development courses.
Carnegie Mellon University globally charges an estimate of $38,900 for its 2012/2013 academic year. However, this rate will be confirmed in March 2012. Under the scholarship, qualifying students would therefore pay $19,450 per annum, based on this estimation.
Education Minister Vincent Biruta said the scholarships will help students to advance their formal knowledge and give students from the region the opportunity to enrol in Masters programmes from one of the best universities in the world right.
Bruce Krogh, the director of CMU-Rwanda, commended the Rwandan government for offering the scholarships.
Meanwhile With a five percent growth rate, the EAC is one of the fastest growing regional blocs in the world and the most advanced in Africa despite being the youngest, Christian Friis Bach the Danish Minister for Development and Cooperation, has said.
"Regional economic integration, apart from spurring economic growth, brings with it political stability like has happened in Burundi and will also come about in South Sudan," Bach said in Nairobi, when addressing recently the second stakeholder forum to review progress made on resolution of issues that hinder regional trade.
EAC secretary-genereal Richard Sezibera also addressed the forum and urged EAC member states to relax barriers to unlock trade potential within the region.
"International companies see East Africa as a single investment destination and they are increasing their investments here," Sezibera said, adding that the region's top officials had committed themselves to fast-tracking infrastructure projects across the bloc.
A recent study on EAC trade barrier suggests that in order to enhance gains from the elimination of non-tariff barriers (NTBs) within the region, designing effective mechanisms for policy monitoring would be crucial for regional growth.
Sezibera announced that EAC Secretariat would hold quarterly meetings with chief executive officers of major companies across East Africa and other technocrats to review the progress made so far.
The EAC, he said, has an environment-friendly industrial policy and strategy. He encouraged the private sector to work with the EAC on policy implementation.
During the EAC formulation process of the Common Market Protocol, the elimination of NTBs was a key focus, considered a major driver in the improvement of regional trade EAC member states of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.
Dr Sezibera said the issuance of a single tourist visa, the internationalisation of the East Africanpassport, the use of national identity cards for movement within East Africa and the liberalisation and domestication of EAC airspace were some of the EAC priorities in 2012.
Construction of one-stop border posts and other integrative infrastructure, including implementation of the agreement on harmonised axle load and other transport regulations, Sezibera said, were expected to significantly bring down the cost of doing business in the region.
According to EAC preliminary figures, intra-EAC trade is estimated to have grown five fold in 2011. Currently, this trade stands at $3. 5 billion or 11.9 percent of total trade within the region.
Kenyan Trade Minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere said more than 47 percent of Kenya's total exports go to Africa, most of it to the regional blocs of COMESA and EAC.
"The EAC is a critical market for Kenya and trade has increased tremendously since the establishment of the Customs Union in 2005 and Common Market in 2010, with exports to the EAC accounting for over 26 percent of Kenya's total exports," Mwakwere said.
SOURCE: GUARDIAN ON SUNDAY
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