By Isaac Akugizibwe

KIU, Main Campus-Albino Ayay Akoldengdit is a finalist student of master of Business Administration majoring in Human Resource Management. He has been conducting extensive research in addition to his dissertation which has enabled him to discover that the contemporary world is shifting from depending on natural resources to human capital.

Ayay argues that Countries like Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, United States, among others, have hugely invested in their manpower to achieve steady and rapid socio-economic growth, despite being endowed with natural resources in some ways.

"Africa has to learn from this, for we are not an Island as a continent, he says. 

He adds that it is not too late for the third world countries to catch up with the rest of the world, but that will only be possible if governments prioritize human resource development and move away from the mentality of relying on fossil and other natural resources, which are but not non-renewable in the long term.

"The solution is within the reach," he notes. 

"This is the similar message I have for my beloved country, South Sudan," he adds.

Ayay's Master's dissertation focuses on Capacity Building and Employee Performance: A Study of Warrap Subnational Government in South Sudan.

He is poised to return home after his studies in a bid to contribute to the development and well-being of his country.

"I intend to go back to South Sudan and be of service to my country, be it in the private or public sector," he says.

Ayay joined KIU in 2018 and would have graduated had it not been for the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences. Now that he has remained with only a viva presentation of his research findings, there is hope he will surely land his dream degree this November.