Prof Jairos Kangira
Access to higher education has always been a big challenge in Africa, especially in countries that do not have loans and grants for their after-secondary-school students.
Even those countries with loans and grants for students have not been able to meet the demand for funding for tertiary education.
Students from Asia and other developing countries are facing the same problem in accessing tertiary education.
This has led political commentators and other analysts to conclude that higher education is now the preserve of students who come from elite families or students whose families are connected to influential members of society.
Faced with the conundrum in their home countries, many students would not even dream of studying at international universities, far away from home.
That idea of studying abroad would be far-fetched and almost a nullity for many African students.
Of late, it appears that the situation in access to higher education overseas has, however, changed for the better, especially for students who want to study in universities and colleges in the United States of America and Canada.
One financier that is opening doors to higher education in American and Canadian universities and colleges for students from across the world is MPower Financing, which provides educational loans to hundreds of thousands of international students.
On its website, MPower Financing invites prospective underground and postgraduate students with these words: “Funds to achieve your study abroad dreams; Our loans don’t require a cosigner or collateral - because we believe in your future potential”.
At first, when I saw these words, I thought it was just a normal advertising gimmick or maybe one of those attractive tricks that lead you nowhere.
My research proved my initial hypothesis wrong as I found out that many undergraduate and postgraduate students have already been awarded study loans and have left Namibia and other countries for tertiary education in universities and colleges in America and Canada.
The loans are a reality and disadvantaged students from across the globe are applying for educational funds and getting them.
In my long years in higher education, I find MPower Financing to be a unique fancier that is making it possible for the downtrodden and the flotsam and jetsam of society to acquire higher education that they would otherwise not have been able to attain in their lives.
What is more impressive is that MPower Financing has selected reputable universities and colleges in America and Canada where the sponsored students have to be admitted for their studies first. Some of the world-class universities in this scheme include the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Harvard University, Toronto Metropolitan University, Claremont Graduate University, Stanford University, California State University Los Angeles, Dalhousie University and Brock University.
The establishment of partnerships between these and other higher education institutions and MPower Financing guarantees quality education that the sponsored students will receive, making them marketable in the job market after attaining their qualifications.
What I also find commendable is that the loan holders get some work to do while they are studying.
They begin to pay back the loans bit by bit while they are studying. Such an arrangement does not only motivate but also empower the sponsored students.
According to a press release in Washington DC, “MPower Financing, an innovative fintech platform and the leading provider of education loans to high-promise students around the world, announced that it has raised an equity investment of $100 million. The raise underscores investors’ confidence in MPower’s position as the leading financial platform for students aspiring to study in the US and Canada”.
At the time of the press release, there was a whopping 1 million students studying in America and 600 000 studying in Canada, all sponsored by MPower Financing.
With all the resources that Africa is endowed with, there is nothing that can stop the African Union from creating a fund to sponsor many of the underprivileged students in African higher education institutions. African leaders, stop unnecessary coups, corruption and bickering, and channel huge funds to the education of Africa’s future.
*Prof Jairos Kangira is a professor of English at the University of Namibia. E-mail address: kjairos@gmail.com