Sisonke Makalima is a young, vibrant upcoming Economist who resides in East London in the Eastern Cape. Currently I am studying in a small but very alive town called Grahamstown also in the Eastern Cape.

My humble beginnings started off when I attended George Randall Primary School from Grade 1-7 and my first accomplishment was becoming a prefect at such a tender age. From then on I went to Hudson Park High School were I enrolled for my high school from grade 8-12.H high school was very daunting indeed but I still managed to find my way and became hands on. I was a class captain, part of the Tadaya committee and also part of the schools weekly magazine and school paper, still managed to get a green academic award that ranges from an average of 65%-75%.In all respect multi-tasking was my second name.

After high school I then went on and enrolled at the University of Fort Hare to further my studies I enrolled for a Bachelor of Economic Sciences Degree this is where I fell in love with Economics you may say “It was love at first site”. In November 2011 I then completed my undergraduate Degree and graduates. I wasn’t done yet in January 2012 I enrolled for an honours Degree on Financial Markets at the University of Fort Hare East London campus. I developed a sound, though very broad finance knowledge. In the field of finance, especially financial markets captured an interest at an early stage of my studies which led to pursue a career in this area. For my masters research thesis I am intending to look at the impact go private equity on Economic growth in South Africa, the aim being to find other sources of finance which developing countries such as South Africa can tap into so as to develop their Economies

I have therefore decided to specialise in this field and found the Master’s program in financial markets offered at Rhodes University to be very suiting. I applied for admission and for the Masters in Financial Markets and I was accepted. I’m confident that the degree will provide me with a deeper knowledge of modern financial world and solid background for further scientific research.

I would like to thank ERSA(Economic Research of Southern Africa)for giving me the opportunity to realise my dreams and to make them a reality the Scholarship will realty go a long way and am looking forward to learning a lot and forming life long bonds with ERSA. Watch out world Sisonke Makalima Junior Economist 2016. The sky is really the limit I’m  a living testimony.