The West African Gas Pipeline Company Limited (WAPCo) though its scholarship programme is positively impacting the lives of the youth in host communities in Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria. Each year, WAPCo under its Community Livelihood Support Programme, awards over 500 scholarships to brilliant young people to further their education or pursue a vocation of their choice.

At a ceremony to present scholarship awards to this year’s batch of students in the Shama District, in the Western Region of Ghana, where WAPCo has five host communities, WAPCo’s General Manager Corporate Affairs Dr. Isaac Doku, said WAPCo, in partnership with host communities, is impacting the lives of the youth one batch at a time.

He said since the inception of the programme, the WAPCo-sponsored students have pursued over 20 different courses, reflecting the diversity of interests and the pool of employable talents and skills being developed in these communities.

The courses pursued included Doctor of Optometry, Medicine and Surgery, Nautical Science, Petroleum Engineering, Actuarial Science, Law, and Environmental and Safety Engineering to name a few.

“We are proud to say that we have so far achieved a 100 percent completion rate as all previous recipients of the WAPCo scholarship, except those still in school, have successfully completed their programmes and graduated. The academic excellence of these graduates is reflective of our OneWAPCo core value of operational excellence” he said.

In administering WAPCo’s livelihood programme, the company ensures that its core values, which include diversity and inclusion, are reflected in the selection process both in terms of gender and fair representation from each host community.

WAPCo’s investment in youth is also to ensure that host communities have the requisite talents for their growth and development.

The leadership of the community, including the District Chief Executive for Shama, Hon. Ebenezer Dadzie, Nana Kabaabo III, Queen mother of Aboadze, and Nana Kwamina Wienu II, Chief of Yabiw and Acting president of Shama Traditional Council thanked WAPCo for the support and encouraged the students not to take the opportunity for granted.