Since setting foot in the country in 2006, the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) has sponsored about 130 Rwandan students to study in various disciplines in South Korea.

This was disclosed by Kim Sang-Chul, the resident representative KOICA Rwanda Office, during an interview with The New Times.

The official noted that beneficiaries include those who undertook master’s degrees, bachelor’s degrees and others who studied various short courses.

According to Kim, KOICA has put a focus on working with the government in improving the education sector. The agency has also equipped some government technical colleges with ICT tools.

"Rwanda is one of the countries in the world which efficiently uses aid money...KOICA is committed to continue working with the government in various areas to help the country achieve sustainable development,” Kim said.

He said that a group of 80 Rwandans students are currently studying in Korea with 20 of them pursuing master’s degrees mainly in ICT.

In an interview, Moses Turatsinze, the Chairman of KOICA Rwanda Alumni who obtained a master’s degree in e-government said: "KOICA is beneficial because it facilitated knowledge transfer among Rwandan students who studied there and I believe this will help us develop our nation in many aspects”.

He requested the agency to continue providing more scholarships, saying it would boost the country’s human resource base.

Turatsinze added that KOICA also advises the government to mirror economic development strategy on South Korea, saying that five decades ago, Korea was also an aid recipient from developed countries.

"50 years ago, over 50 percent of Korea’s budget came from donors, but currently, this is one of the donor countries and among the G2O countries. This is a good example on how our country can also easily develop to become a donor state rather than an aid recipient,” Turatsinze said.

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