MWTC-Sida Fund

Introduction

This bursary fund was sponsored by the Government of Sweden from 1997 to 2003, through its development cooperation agency, Sida, under several Transport and Communication Sector Cooperation Agreements with the Namibian Government. The Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication acted as the executing agent for the Namibian transport sector reform and capacity building project, which was financially supported by Sweden. The project was finally concluded in 2004, when the last bursary student completed his studies.

Closing Report - Executive Summary

The Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication (MWTC) in the early 90’s embarked on a reform of the road sector with a view to achieving improved efficiency in the sector with regard to both the management and funding of the national road network. The reform was substantially executed through a project of the MWTC, named “the MWTC2000 Project”, which by April 2000 had achieved the establishment of the Roads Authority and the Roads Contractor Company out of the operational components of the Department of Transport in the MWTC, and the Road Fund Administration as an entirely new institution for securing funding mainly for the national road network.

The MWTC had been experiencing a chronic shortage of engineers and technicians and it was foreseen that for a successful reform of the road sector, the shortage in these professions would have to be alleviated. As part of the strategy towards this end, the Young Professionals’ Programme (YPP) was established under the auspices of the MWTC2000 Project, with funding for engineering study bursaries provided by the Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency, Sida, under the Namibian – Swedish Specific Agreement on Transport and Communication Sector Support.

The MWTC on 1997-02-11 concluded an agreement with EPA for the management of the YPP Bursary Scheme, which EPA then managed during the financial years from 1996/97 to 2004/05 as part of EPA’s Bursary Fund Trust, into which the Swedish funds were paid directly. The total intakes of students from 1997 to 2000 resulted in bursaries being awarded as follows, with regard to Namibian affirmative action criteria:

• Black Namibian women: 5
• Brown Namibian women: 2
• White Namibian women: 3
• Black Namibian men: 13
• Brown Namibian men: 2
• White Namibian men: 11
• Subtotal Women: 10
• Subtotal Men: 26
• Total: 36

The above figures include one student who was awarded a bursary for post-graduate studies in transportation economics. Therefore, 35 bursaries were awarded for engineering studies.

With the aforementioned intakes of students, the Scheme has substantially succeeded in alleviating the shortage of young civil engineers in Namibia, by producing 23 graduate civil engineers in the course of seven years between 1997 and 2004. The total cost amounted to N$ 5 295 971, which averages to about N$ 230 000 per graduate. This cost includes the irrecoverable losses incurred on students that dropped out of the Scheme. Not taking into account a number of students who were awarded a bursary but who for various reasons never commenced their studies under the Scheme, drop-outs numbered only six. Considering the difficulty of engineering study, and the under-privileged background of many of the students, a ratio of 6 drop-outs to 23 successful students is regarded a remarkable success.

Download web version of the closing report, which does not contain the appendixes to the report.

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