Limkokwing opens campus in Sierra Leone
LIMKOKWING
University of Creative Technology (LUCT) has opened a new campus in Freetown, Sierra Leone — making history by becoming the first foreign university in the African nation.
The university campus will be providing creativity-centred courses to its first cohort of 1,100 students which is in line with efforts to meet the demands for graduates in the field of digital technology in the country.
LUCT founder and president Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing said the branch campus’ main role in the country will be to use education as a means to help in the social and economic transformation of Sierra Leone.
“In establishing the campus, we have given ourselves the role of a global connector in promoting Sierra Leone, Making use of the resources of our campuses across the world and the collegial network we have built, we shall work to bring the world to Sierra Leone and take Sierra Leone to the world,” he said.
“We have begun that process by creating the most high-tech learning environment to empower students with the latest in digital technology,” said Lim, adding that the graduates of the university will go on to become technology-savvy movers and shakers of the country.
In his speech during the launch, Sierra Leone President Dr Ernest Bai Koroma commended Lim for seeing African countries beyond the stereotypical image often presented in the media.
“The opening of the local campus of the university is set to transform the tertiary education landscape in the country,” he said.
At the event, Lim announced that new university campuses will also be opened in Sri Lanka and the Maldives this year.
In Colombo, Limkokwing University is set to assist in skill-based programmes for the creative industries. While currently delivering programmes in multimedia creativity and interior architecture, a city campus within the National Innovation Centre will host 15 new disciplines.
LUCT will leverage its association with the Maldives Media Institute, by continuing to be relevant within the nation’s largest media conglomerate, delivering multimedia innovation courses.