British High Commission and Petrofund sign agreement
The British High Commission signed a Chevening partnership with Petroleum Training and Education Fund (Petrofund) last week. The agreement will offer two jointly funded scholarships for Namibian scholars to study petroleum related Masters Degrees in the UK in the next academic year 2016/17.
Chevening is the UK Government’s global scholarship programme, funded by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) and partner organisations. The programme makes awards to outstanding scholars with leadership potential from around the world to study fully funded postgraduate courses at UK universities.
On the hand, the Petrofund is a Trust Fund established by the Namibian Government through the Petroleum Exploration and Production Act whose main aim is to build capacity for the oil and gas sector in Namibia in order to ensure that the country has necessary skills to sustain the operations of the industry in the event of a major hydro carbon discovery. It was established in 1992.
HE. Jo Lomas, British High Commissioner to Namibia, expressed her excitement about the joint Chevening-Petrofund scholarship: “I am delighted to see the healthy ties between the UK and Namibia strengthened even further. The scholarships align with our key priority in Namibia – supporting economic growth, including through assistance in skills development. Investing in the future leadership in the oil and gas sector will bring real benefit to Namibia”.
The Chairperson of the Petrofund Board of Trustees and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Mines and Energy, Simeon Niilenge Negumbo, said, “The partnership compliments the Petrofund’s Scholarship Programme since each party shall contribute to the costs associated with the scholarships equally, henceforth providing an opportunity to marginally increase the overall number of candidates recruited for these prestigious scholarship programmes”.
The Chevening-Petrofund partnership offers scholarships to outstanding Namibian candidates who are willing and prepared to serve the Namibian oil and gas industry upon completion of their studies.
