Limkokwing University's Sierra Leone campus will be officially launched in a special ceremony in March 2017.
Located in Hill Station, in the western part of the capital city of Freetown, the campus started operating in July 2016 and is the fourth Limkokwing University campus on the African continent after Swaziland, Lesotho and Botswana.
The Sierra Leone campus was originally established on April 2014, but since the outbreak of the Ebola virus, the University had to postpone its operation in the country and came up with ‘STOP EBOLA’ campaign to assist the Sierra Leone Government in their ‘National Action Plan for Ebola Eradication’ prevention campaign.
Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Paduka Dr. Lim Kok Wing, President and Founder of Limkokwing University, had received a request from the Sierra Leone Government to set up a university in the country. The intention was to complement the existing tertiary education system in Sierra Leone with new programmes that empower the youth with the ability to use creative thinking to solve problems and provide solutions from a fresh new perspective, thus unlocking their full potential to become entrepreneurs. This approach is similar to what the University had achieved for Botswana and Lesotho, where it has been working with the local governments to build their workforce.
“Our expansion into overseas markets, especially the developing world, is to partner with governments to create the human capital they need to widen and deepen their economic sectors,” said Tan Sri Lim on the establishment of the Sierra Leone campus.
Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing is a philanthropist through and through. He has made it his mission in life to contribute to causes that would improve the lives of others. Tan Sri Lim, and by extension, Limkokwing University, has been promoting racial and national unity, fighting drug abuse, campaigning for peace, as well as spearheading humanitarian aids for campaign for war-torn and disaster-hit countries over the world over. Tan Sri Lim personally spearheaded the Global Humanitarian Appeal for Bosnia-Herzegovina and initiated the Perdana Global Peace Forum.
Amongst Tan Sri Lim’s many achievements, the one that had the most impact was the voter registration and education exercise for South Africa in 1994. This marked the first democratically held election in the country post-apartheid. Tan Sri Lim and his team assisted Nelson Mandela, and the African National Congress (ANC) to develop a highly effective voter education exercise that helped Mandela win the presidency of South Africa.
Limkokwing University emphasises creativity and innovation, and is setting the pace in global tertiary education with its blend of holistic education and industry-driven skills. The establishment of the Sierra Leone campus is Limkokwing’s commitment to further cement Malaysia as a hub for quality and innovative education. Limkokwing University has a presence across Africa, Europe and Asia. With its main campus in Malaysia, the University has over 30,000 students from more than 150 countries, studying in its campuses across the three continents.
Limkokwing University has received numerous awards for creativity and innovation in education from the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia and Africa. In 2009, the University was awarded the designation of University of the Future by QS Apple (Asia Pacific Professional Leaders in Education).
In April 2012, it was designated by the Ministry of Higher Education in Malaysia as a University of Innovation. In July 2013, the Prime Minister of Malaysia awarded Limkokwing University with the designation of University of Transformation. Limkokwing University is the winner of the Highest Enrolment of Foreign Students Award and Special Award for Globalising Malaysian Education from the Malaysian Ministry of Education, and the Export Excellence Award from the Ministry of International Trade and Industry.
The University’s award winning website, www.limkokwing.net, attracts over 300 million visitors a year from around 229 different countries and territories. Limkokwing University is also in the Top Ten of the world’s Most Popular Universities on Facebook and Twitter.