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Energy tech company awards bursaries to students aimed at helping SA transition to green economy

Multinational company Baker Hughes has partnered with NGO Feenix to offer bursaries to 83 students across the country.
Multinational company Baker Hughes has partnered with NGO Feenix to offer bursaries to 83 students across the country.
Image: 123RF/kadettmann

Energy tech company Baker Hughes SA has awarded bursaries to students in the engineering, accounting, sales, and marketing fields in an effort to harness skills needed to help transition SA into a green economy.

The company that operates in 120 countries has worked with student crowdfunding platform Feenix to select recipients from across the country.

The beneficiaries of the bursary programme will also have an opportunity to gain experience through internships that Baker Hughes offers.

“Undergraduate and postgraduate students at any of the country’s 26 public universities were invited to apply for this year’s round of bursaries. Furthermore, the programme will be focused on assisting SA in building the skills required to transition SA into a green economy that is low carbon, resource-efficient and socially inclusive,” said Simo-Sihle Mvinjelwa, country leader for transformation at Baker Hughes.

He said Baker Hughes SA had in the past four years in partnership with Feenix supported a number of students with tuition to further their studies at various public universities in the country.

In 2021 the number had exceeded 80, he said.

Paul De Villiers, country manager at Baker Hughes, said: “We are proud of the programme we are running with Feenix in SA. We are keen to support this and to see the progress of our students.”

Leana de Beer, CEO of Feenix, said the bursary programme was aimed at giving students access to education when they did not have the financial means to do so.

“We knew if we could harness the power of the collective and create a place where we brought people together, we can bring about big change. In SA, the education system is demographically not discriminatory, but because of our history and the slow economic growth it is not equitably accessible for all to this day,” she said.

“Through this partnership, Baker Hughes has channelled about R4.8m which has contributed to 83 students’ lives.”

Zizipho Mutumi, a second-year mechanical engineering student at Cape Peninsula University of Technology who is one of the recipients of the bursary, said she was grateful for the opportunity as she had been rejected twice for other bursaries.

“This bursary means half of my problems are solved. I am motivated to work harder. I am confident I will finish my diploma in record time. I was happy to know that there is a mentorship offered by Baker Hughes and Feenix after I finish my internship,” she said.

TimesLIVE


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