The beneficiaries, whose scholarships fell under the Japanese Grant Aid (JDS) and the African Business Education Initiative for Youth (ABE ) initiative, were taken through a pre-departure debriefing session at the JICA Ghana Office, as an essential component of their trip.

The meeting formed part of the training activities to adequately prepare them on important topics including academic and student life, travel arrangements and some perspectives about studying in Japan to ensure that their stay in Japan was fruitful, and productive.

The beneficiaries will receive specialised education and knowledge in the areas of governance, education, agriculture, health, industrial policy and others, which will be pivotal to their personal professional development and the institutional capacity development of their various organisations.

Human resource development

Mr Yasumichi underscored the importance of human resource development and said the beneficiaries, aside from the main courses, would also have the opportunity to learn about Japan’s modernisation and development experiences.

He expressed the hope that the current crop of beneficiaries would return to take up leadership roles in Ghana and also enhance the bond of friendship and cooperation the two countries had shared over the decades.

Background

At the Fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V), held in Yokohama in 2013, the Japanese government stated its policy of strengthening support for Africa with stronger public-private partnerships and announced the ABE Initiative, a strategic plan to provide youths in Africa with opportunities to study for Master's degree at Japanese universities and experience internships at Japanese companies.

In Ghana, JICA implements the master's degree and internship programme within the ABE Initiative framework.

Currently, 101 Ghanaians are in Japan under JICA’s long-term training programme which incorporates the Human Resource Development Scholarship, JDS and the ABE Initiative.