The Coega Development Corporation (CDC), known for its ability to engineer solutions to complex socio-economic development challenges as well as to create opportunities, announced today that it was launching its ground-breaking Coega Global Scholars Programme (CGSP), which is a significant milestone for the Youth Month.

“The CGSP is a Talent Identification and Retention programme, which seeks to strengthen the capacity of the CDC by training at post-graduate (Masters) level current management talent and future talent by sending them to selected Top Tier Global Universities specialising in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) and related interdisciplinary studies,” says Khwezi Tiya, CDC Chief Executive Officer.

The concept of the Coega Global Scholars Programme emanates with the idea of progressively building a valuable, unique and fresh talent pool that will enable the realisation of a sustainable competitive advantage and create stakeholder value. 

The programme is in line with the CDC’s vision to be the leading catalyst for championing of socio-economic development. The programme seeks to contribute towards socio-economic transformation, organisational and national capacity as the benefits will not only be realised by the CDC, but by all institutions that continue to enjoy the CDC’s expertise and support.

According to Ms. Zola Ngoma, CDC Unit Head: Human Resources, the programme will be executed over a period of five years, with intakes for Masters-level qualifications which tend to have an average duration of two (2) years. In addition, highly-rated Asian and European Universities have been identified, with a target of thirty (30) candidates, comprising of a 60/40 split between internal and external candidates, respectively.

“The programme is designed to ensure sustainable gender representation and organisational transformation. Thus, it seeks to ensure a 60% participation for women in the programme,” elaborates Ms. Ngoma.

“As we celebrate this significant milestone, we hope that the Coega Global Scholars programme addresses and mitigates the skills gap that may arise in the future and develop the next generation of leaders. Furthermore, we hope this programme will improve the organisations’ competitiveness and also enhance the CDC’s capability to be a world-class infrastructure, real assets management and related investment services company”, concluded CDC CEO, Mr Khwezi Tiya.