Mali Sends 65 Vocational Scholars to Morocco and Tunisia, Betting on Skills for National Development
In a significant step for the nation’s skilled workforce development, Mali’s Minister of National Entrepreneurship, Employment and Vocational Training, Oumou Sall Seck, personally oversaw the departure of 65 scholarship recipients bound for vocational training programs in North Africa. The ceremony, held on Thursday, November 6, 2025, marks a strategic investment in the country’s human capital, with the students set to undertake studies in Morocco and Tunisia for the 2024-2025 academic year.
A Mission for the Future of Mali
Framing the departure as a national priority, Minister Seck addressed the scholars with a sense of gravity and purpose. She drew a parallel to soldiers heading to the front, emphasizing that these students are, in fact, the future builders of a new Mali. “You are the future builders of the new Mali, and we are counting on you to return armed with knowledge, experience, and ambitions to serve national development,” she stated, setting a high bar for their endeavors abroad.
With 12 of the 65 beneficiaries destined for Tunisia and the remainder for Morocco, the minister’s message was clear: this is more than an academic opportunity; it is a mission. She urged the students to honor their country, strive for academic excellence, and fully leverage the chance they have been given to contribute to Mali’s ongoing reconstruction and march toward sovereignty.
Forging Stronger Ties Through Skills Development
The scholarship program is a tangible outcome of long-standing diplomatic and cooperative relationships between Mali and its North African partners. During the send-off ceremony, diplomats from both host nations reaffirmed their commitment to these educational exchanges.
Mohamed Amine Ben Aoun, Chargé d’Affaires of the Tunisian Embassy in Mali, highlighted vocational training as a cornerstone of the bilateral relationship, a sector his country is dedicated to deepening for a mutually fruitful partnership.
A Decade of Moroccan-Malian Cooperation
Driss Isbayene, the Ambassador of Morocco to Mali, provided historical context, tracing the roots of this vocational training cooperation back to 2014. This followed a landmark visit by the King of Morocco, which resulted in a formal protocol of agreements between Morocco’s Office for Vocational Training and Labor Promotion (OFPPT) and Mali’s Fund for Support to Vocational Training and Apprenticeship (Fafpa).
Since that agreement, the partnership has flourished. The OFPPT has provided extensive technical support to modernize Mali’s own training system. This collaboration encompasses multiple fronts, including training engineering, hosting an annual quota of approximately fifty Malian trainees, and conducting specialized training for Malian instructors and pedagogical staff to elevate the overall quality of vocational education back home.
This latest dispatch of 65 students is therefore not an isolated event but part of a sustained, strategic effort to equip Mali’s youth with the practical skills and international exposure needed to build a resilient and self-reliant economy. It is a bet on knowledge, skills, and openness to the world as the true engines of national progress.
Source: Le PAYS | Original reporting by Issa Djiguiba