100 female geoscience students to receive WiM Africa N2.5m grant
100 Nigerian female geoscience students have been empowered with N2.5 million grant from Women in Mining Africa (WiM Africa). The initiative, tagged “NextGen Women in Mining” and launched through its implementing partner, Richflood Foundation, is aimed at empowering young women across Africa to pursue careers in the mining industry and address gender disparity in the […]
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100 Nigerian female geoscience students have been empowered with N2.5 million grant from Women in Mining Africa (WiM Africa).
The initiative, tagged “NextGen Women in Mining” and launched through its implementing partner, Richflood Foundation, is aimed at empowering young women across Africa to pursue careers in the mining industry and address gender disparity in the mining sector.
Speaking at a mentorship session held to inspire and guide the beneficiaries, Dr Comfort Asokoro Ogaji, the Executive Director of WiM Africa, said the programme aims to build capacity and provide financial incentives for female students pursuing mining-related courses in universities and polytechnics across Africa.
“The initiative was successfully launched as a pilot in Northern Nigeria, where over 250 applications were received from female students between the age 18-25, studying mining-related disciplines.
“After a rigorous selection process, 100 young women were shortlisted and received incentivized grant of ₦25,000 each.
“The recipients are students from institutions such as Federal University Lokoja, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, and universities in Zamfara, Sokoto, and Niger states, among others,” the statement noted.
She said: “These young women, many from marginalised communities in the far north, face challenges such as insecurity, limited accessibility to resources, and gender biases. Despite these obstacles, they have shown incredible determination to pursue their dreams in traditionally male-dominated fields like Geology, Geophysics, Mining Engineering, Metallurgy & Materials Engineering, Industrial Chemistry and other related Geoscience courses”.