The African University of Science and Technology (AUST) has offered full scholarship on tuition to students from sub-Saharan Africa.
President of the university, Prof. Azikiwe Onwualu, stated this at the 10th convocation ceremony of the institution in Abuja.
Onwualu noted that the move is part of the university’s efforts to promote education and development in the region.
He restated the institution’s commitment to give opportunities to deserving students to access quality education, thereby contributing to the growth and advancement of the continent.
He said: “With the present economic realities in Nigeria, we have introduced tuition fees, which is currently at 50 per cent of what every student is supposed to pay. We want to gradually return to a situation where students from the region will enjoy 100 per cent scholarships as obtained in the past.
“We, therefore, seek more support and partnerships with more public and private organisations, so that we can continue subsidising the high cost of university education, especially in engaging Africans in the diaspora towards giving our children the kind of education they can get in the developed world.”
He also disclosed that the school has established AUSTInspire, an innovation and entrepreneurship hub, aimed at promoting start-ups and providing solutions to Africa’s economic and infrastructure challenges.
AUST, he said, has created specialised centres of excellence, secured grants and scholarships from international organisations, and showcased young innovators’ solutions to climate change challenges.
“In order to provide solutions to the economic and infrastructure problems of Africa, we started AUSTInspire, the innovation and entrepreneurship hub of the university for promoting start-ups, entrepreneurship activities and continuing professional development courses. This is the nucleus of the university technology, commercial and industrial park. In the last two years, our scholars and researchers in partnership with others, won grants and scholarships from a number of local and international funding agencies and industries, including the World Bank, International Development Research Centre (IDRC), National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure, Google, Presidential Amnesty Programme, and Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), among others.
