Alumni News
From an alumnus: Mamadou Diarra, MSc National Development and Project Planning (1990-1991)
I am from NIGER, a French speaking country in West Africa. I am electrical Engineer graduated from the Ecole Nationale d’Ingénieurs (Bamako), Mali, West Africa.
After some years of professional experience, in the National Power Utility (NIGELEC) in the Planning Department, I went to the Development and Project Planning Centre, at the University of Bradford for a MSc in National Development and Project Planning in 1990-1991.
In 1996-1997, I was awarded the Humphrey Fellowship for one year professional Development in Energy, Environment and project appraisal at Rutgers University (USA).
Well, before coming to the University of Bradford, I had a choice among many universities. But a World Bank staff with whom I worked on projects in NIGELEC advised me to do my MSc at the University of Bradford because it has a great reputation in the field of project appraisal.
I have taken one year off from my job that means without pay. It is a lot of sacrifice.
Fortunately I was lucky to be awarded the British Professional Access Scheme (British Council) from the UK Department of Trade and Industry, for three months and it has really helped me finish my training. Thanks to that fellowship, I got internship with some British Consulting Engineers, such as Sir Alexander and Gibbs in Reading and with Merz and McLeland in Newcastle.
Studying at Bradford really was a fantastic experience. In the class, there were students from all over the world: Nepal, India, Pakistan, UK (of course), Zambia, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Saint Kitts, etc...and you learnt a lot with such a melting pot. I lived in an apartment near Barclays Bank, not far from the University.
The degree has helped me in assessing power projects. With this new knowledge, I have trained about 45 NGOs in project formulation, the staff of the Ministry of Mines and Energy, of the Ministry of Planning and from the Office of the Prime Minister. I have also run many courses on project appraisal.
I ran with some colleagues a seminar on the appraisal of energy projects, three weeks ago.
I will be glad to exchange case studies on energy, industrial or mining projects with anyone interested. My email is: mamadou_diarra@yahoo.com