Master’s Degree in Economics (Development Studies), African Applicant

My wife and I are both from Burkina Faso where we grew up and received most of our education. She is currently working towards the completion of her PHD at the University of XXXX and I hope to begin my graduate education in North America next year, Fall of 2018. We plan on spending as much time as possible together – hopefully in Montreal, our dream city. XXXX University in Montreal is my first choice for graduate school for a variety of reasons in addition to its location, however, especially your profound respect and admiration for diversity and the highly interdisciplinary interests of your faculty in the Developing World, particularly Francophone Africa. My wife is hard at work looking for a suitable temporary  professional position in Montreal as well. Since French is the national language of Burkina Faso, we feel especially at home in French-speaking culture and society.

As a specialist in the area of economic development, I also very much appreciate Montreal as a city and an economy, a symbol of successful, sustainable development in ways that are most exemplary; serving as an excellent model for development in the Developing World generally speaking and, as I see it, Burkina Faso in particular. I very much appreciate how your highly interdisciplinary Master’s Degree Program in Economics, studying under the Development Studies Option, will enable me to receive the most thoroughgoing immersion experience possible in the critical social, political, economic and environmental challenges facing the Developing World – especially francophone Africa. I look forward to a long lifetime translating the theoretical knowledge that I will learn into hands-on practice so that I will be able to make my fullest contribution to society as an agent of progressive change.

Since completing my degree in Business Law, I have been serving with an organization devoted to the stimulation and management of private-sector businesses – which I see as especially important to the overall development of the country. My ultimate goal is to contribute to creating sustainable small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs), capable of generating jobs and thereby alleviating poverty, especially among vulnerable communities. Earning my Master’s Degree in your program will provide me with the theoretical background, knowledge base, and tool kit that I will need to achieve this goal. The diversity of the faculty as well as the student body at XXXX is also ideal. It would be a special honor for me to study under Dr. XXXX who specializes on development economics in francophone West Africa.

Upon completion of my Masters, I intend to return to work with my current employer, taking on additional responsibilities, share my learning experience in Canada with my colleagues and associates, building us up and making us more effective as an organization – with a central focus on innovation. As a development professional in Burkina Faso, I will be using my skills to help enterprises mitigate the challenges they face. My current experience, supervising a team of 12 agents working in 10 different provinces of Burkina Faso, creating thousands of new private enterprises over the course of the last several years, will provide me with helpful real-world experiences to share in discussions concerning issues faced in Africa. I have a vast professional network that will help me to make a major impact in the development of the private sector over decades to come. Francophone West Africa has very few development experts trained in Canada with great passion for the advancement of the private sector. I thank you for considering my application to XXXX.ant to stay there permanently.