Over Le 1,800bn Worth of Scholarship for College and University Students 

Sierra Minerals Holdings 1 Limited (SMHL) has, through its Community Development Committee (CDC), awarded scholarships to 500 university and college students in various fields of studies at the CDC Complex in Lower Banta Chiefdom, Moyamba District.

The scholarships, which were up to the tune of one billion, eight hundred and seventy-one million Leones (Le 1,871,000,000), targeted indigenes of the five chiefdoms (Upper Banta, Lower Banta, Kpanda Kemo, Bumpeh Gao, and Mano Dasse) where SMHL's mining operations are primarily done, taking into consideration their corporate social responsibility.

In his opening remarks, the Chairman of Bo District Council, Mr. Joseph M. Gbindi, started off by thanking SMHL and CDC for setting a very high standard in the area of students' support, which complements government's vision on human capital development. He welcomed the Ministry of Technical and Higher Education, noting that their presence presupposes government's belief in a decentralized system of education in the country.

SMHL's Chief Finance Officer, Mr. Abdul Bangura, assured members of their continued efforts as a mining company in developing the communities within which they operate. He cited their commitment to giving 1% of their proceeds to the communities in a bid to uphold their corporate social responsibility, noting that the award of scholarships is just one of their numerous outputs. According Mr. Bangura, in spite of the challenges posed by the Corona Virus, they have no plans to shut down their mining operations.

In his keynote address, the Minister of Technical and Higher Education, Prof. Alpha Tejan Wurie, expressed delight over the laudable efforts of SMHL and CDC in building students' capacity, applauding them for supporting government to achieve its educational goals. According to Prof. Wurie, this government prioritizes development of communities from which mining operations are done. He congratulated the awardees for being the lucky ones, encouraging them to take their coursework seriously with an initial drive to in turn serve the communities from which the resources are being given to them as scholarships.   According to the Minister, every district has to grow as a vibrant entity in itself, and that is why government intends to have a higher learning institution in every district of the country, and a university per region.