“Be a contender,” Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng tells MasterCard Foundation Scholars
“At every university, you get three types of students: spectators, pretenders and contenders,” says Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng, deputy vice-chancellor for research and internationalisation.
Jeremiah Mutungi’s lifelong passion to make mobile work for Africa
The MasterCard Foundation scholar, Jeremiah Mutungi, is ready to bring together his lifelong passion for technology, with what he has learned doing his Masters at UCT to make life better for African farmers.
MasterCard Foundation scholar wants to develop Lesotho
Thato Semoko, from Maputsoe, Lesotho, has always had an interest in creating things – it’s what informed his choice to study electrical and computer engineering at UCT.
MasterCard Foundation Scholars are turning ideas into action
UCT MasterCard Foundation Scholars Fadzai Muramba and Christina Nyandoro recently attended the Clinton Global Initiative University 2016 meeting at the University of California, Berkley.
The Mastercard Foundation has partnered with the University of Cape Town (UCT) to provide 338 scholarships over 10 years to academically talented yet economically disadvantaged students from Sub-Saharan Africa for study at UCT.
The Scholars Program is a $700 million initiative to educate young people – particularly from Africa – to lead change and make a positive social impact in their communities. Scholars will receive comprehensive scholarships, academic support, peer mentorship, career guidance, internship opportunities, transition-to-work support and access to a global alumni network.
Over the 10-year period (2014 – 2024), sixty students will be awarded scholarships to complete an undergraduate qualification and 240 students will be awarded support to obtain qualifications at Honours (as of 2016) and Masters level. In order to be considered for the scholarship, applicants must meet all the eligibility criteria, including the admission criteria for their chosen course of study at UCT.
The scholarship's tenure is for the full period of the academic program for which the Undergraduate Scholar has enrolled, with the second and subsequent years dependent on satisfactory academic progress and co-curricular involvement.
Tenure for the Honours level scholarships is one year. For Masters level the scholarships tenure is two years, dependent on academic progress and co-curricular participation of the Scholar.
