Why We Do It

We believe education is the great equalizer.

We believe education can transform a person, a family, a community, a nation.

Statistics have shown that students who attend institutions of higher learning obtain a wide range of personal, financial, and other lifelong benefits while society as a whole derives a multitude of direct and indirect benefits when its citizens have a postsecondary education.

We believe Ghana has the potential for being the economic leader of West Africa. It is a stable democracy, with a growing economy and a continually improving infrastructure. It has recently hosted many international diplomatic, business, and sporting events and has thereby gained greater visibility. Tourism is on the rise.

Ghana has known peace for the past two decades, despite the ongoing turmoil in neighboring countries. It is well endowed with the minerals and food that help to make Africa the breadbasket of the world. And it scores the highest in the region in terms of UNDP Human Development indicators – with a decrease in overall poverty over the last decade.

From the standpoint of a university graduate, Ghana offers great promise for career development and growth. It has demonstrated a commitment to the philosophy and practice of market liberalization policies. It has export free zones and factory specific export processing zones. It has a stock exchange and an emerging financial market. Investor confidence in the country is evidenced by major successful investment in most sectors of the economy. In 2011, the country’s economy grew 13.5%.

But above all, we believe in our scholarship students. They are exceedingly bright, serious, and driven. Their career goals include ways that they can help their country grow. Without EPI, they would not be able to attend University, which would be a tremendous loss of talent and intellectual capital for their country. With it, they are in a position to make a significant difference.

“Education,” stated Nelson Mandela, “is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” We believe EPI’s scholarship program is a contributor to that end.