(Updated 12 February 2019. New entries are marked with an asterisk.)
I’ve come across several great scholarship opportunities for African students who’d like to study or attend workshops abroad recently, and wanted to highlight them here. They’re listed by country or region, and by university.
I include the link to the version of the scholarship offered when I found it, so some of the links may now be out of date. I don’t have time to update all the links every year, so if you find an outdated link, just Google the current information on the scholarship.
I’ll note here that I get a lot of requests from people asking me to help them get a scholarship. I’m not affiliated with any of the universities or scholarship providers listed here. I can’t provide individualized recommendations for scholarships. I can review a limited number of social science scholarship applications as my schedule permits.
The ACLS African Humanities Program offers research funding to African PhD students at universities in Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, or Uganda
The Institute of Infectious Diseases of Poverty offers PhD scholarships to students studying infectious disease at the University of Ghana, University of Ibadan, University of Sciences, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako and Modibbo Adama University of Technology
The ECOWAS Fellowship Programme for masters and PhD students at the University of Lagos and University of Ibadan
The World Academy of Sciences has similar fellowships available for students doing PhDs in Brazil, China, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico and Pakistan
The Lagos State Scholarship Board offers funding for BA and MA study in South Africa, India, Ukraine and China to Nigerian citizens
The Graça Machel Scholarship Programme offers funding for post-graduate study in South Africa and the UK to women from Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, South Africa and Zambia
The Bank of Tanzania offers BA and MA scholarships at a range of Tanzanian universities
The Partnership for African Social and Governance Research offers scholarships for students doing the MA in research and public policy at Maseno University, Egerton University, Uganda Christian University, Uganda Martyrs University, University of Dar es Salaam, and Mzumbe University
The African Economic Research Consortium offers MA and PhD scholarships
The Open Society Foundation supports PhD students and professors from Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea, Sudan and South Sudan through the Civil Society Scholar Awards
The Kofi Annan Fellowship supports students from low income countries doing an MBA at universities in Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland and Turkey
The David and Elaine Potter Foundation offers scholarships for African students doing MA and PhD studies in Politics and International Studies at Cambridge
A variety of scholarships are available through the Cambridge Africa program
BG Fellowships are available for Tanzanian students doing MAs in fields relevant to the oil and gas sector at Imperial College London, Aberdeen University, and Robert Gordon University
The University of Edinburgh offers scholarships for African students to undertake a variety of MA programs
The Program for African Leadership supports the MSc Development Management and MSc in International Development and Humanitarian Emergencies at the LSE
Felix Scholarships support graduate study by students from low income countries at the University of Reading
The University of Essex offers tuition discounts to African students through the African Scholarship Programme
The Africa London Nagasaki Fund supports MA study at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the University of Nagasaki
Commonwealth Scholarships support African students doing the MA in International Human Rights Law at Oxford
There are also Commonwealth Shared Scholarships for students from African Commonwealth countries doing several types of degrees at SOAS
The Ferguson Scholarship for African students doing the MA in African Studies, International Studies and Diplomacy, or Social Anthropology of Development at SOAS
The Windle Trust offers fellowships for students from Kenya, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda who would like to pursue an MA at several different universities in the UK
The UK’s Chevening Scholarship supports post-graduate study at a range of universities
The Wellcome Trust offers scholarships for students from low income countries doing MAs in public health and tropical medicine in the UK
US
The University of Delaware Borel Fellows program offers scholarships for MA study in agriculture to African students
The Dag Hammarskjöld fund covers the expenses of journalists from low income countries who travel to New York to cover the annual UN General Assembly session
The Hegg Hoffet Fund provides grants to female graduate students who have been displaced by conflict
The Aga Khan Foundation offers postgraduate fellowships to students from low income countries
Schwartzman Scholars supports students doing a one-year MA in Global Affairs at Tsinghua University
The Australia Awards support students from a variety of African countries who would like to study in Australia
The African Leaders of Tomorrow Scholarship Program supports students from South Africa and Senegal doing MAs in public finance, public policy or public administration at Canadian universities
Microsoft’s 4Afrika scholarships support African students enrolled at the online University of the People
The MasterCard Foundation provides scholarships for African students to universities around the world
Updated Dec. 9, 2018. New entries are marked with an asterisk .
Josaphat Musamba reminded me recently that the links in my post about scholarships for African students only concerned English-speaking countries. So here’s what I found as scholarships for francophone students.
Sciences Po offers scholarships to African students for 1st and 2nd cycle
The Catholic University of Louvain offers doctoral scholarships to students from a developing country
The Interuniversity Council of the French Community in Belgium offers scholarships to students from Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Uganda, DR Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe
Ashinaga Africa offers bursary scholarships to students from Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Comoros, Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Gabon, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Senegal, and Togo
(Updated Feb. 12 2019. New entries are marked with an asterisk.)
As a complement to my list of scholarships for African students doing MAs and Ph.D.s, here are all the research and travel grants that I could find for African professors. If you come across any others, please send them my way! They’re listed by funding type and by country or region.
I include the link to the current version of the fellowship or grant offered when I found it, so some of the links may now be out of date. I don’t have time to update all the links every year, so if you find an outdated link, just Google the current information on the program.
I’ll note here that I get a lot of requests from people asking me to help them get a scholarship. I’m not affiliated with any of the universities or scholarship providers listed here. I can’t provide individualized recommendations for scholarships. I can review a limited number of social science scholarship applications as my schedule permits.
The WZB Berlin Social Science Center offers a Global Fellowship Programme which allows scholars from low income countries to spend 4 – 6 months in Berlin
The World Bank has a one-year fellowship for researchers focused on child development
The World Academy of Sciences offers post-docs for researchers from low income countries who’d like to study in Brazil, India, Iran, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan and Thailand
The Wellcome Trust provides a variety of fellowships for early and mid-career researchers in public health and tropical medicine from low income countries
The Institute of International Education’s Scholar Rescue Fund offers academic placements and research funding to scholars who are living in countries affected by civil war
Grand Challenges Africa offers innovation seed grants to African scholars doing work related to the SDGs
The Africa Science Leadership Programme at the University of Pretoria supports early- to mid-career researchers in all disciplines including natural sciences, engineering, social sciences, arts and the humanities
The Next Einstein Forum offers fellowships and mentoring to young African scientists
The African Social Research Initiative at the University of Michigan offers summer research training to African PhD students or academics from Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, South Africa, and Uganda
The African Studies Association of the UK offers writing workshops where early-career African academics can work on a paper with the editor of a journal
Thomas Gale scholarships for students from the US and Kenya who would like to attend the SOAS Academic Summer School
CODESRIA has just launched a College of Mentors, which connects PhD students at African universities to faculty members in Africa and the US for mentorship *
TechWomen is a USAID program which offers training and mentorship to female leaders in STEM fields
AuthorAID also connects academics from different countries who are looking for mentoring or assistance with specific aspects of the research and publication processes
Global Colleagues is an initiative from Academics Stand Against Poverty which connects junior scholars from low income countries with senior colleagues around the world
The Moremi Initiative offers a yearlong training program for African women from 18 – 25
WOMID is a new initiative which connects women doing PhDs in development-related fields with other women currently working in development
The World Economic Forum offers a unique three-year professional developent fellowship with academic modules, mentoring and work experience
Residents of Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe are eligible for the Eisenhower Fellowship, which offers two months of leadership training in the US for mid-career development professionals
Check out some of the newly added opportunities below.
I’ll note here that I get a lot of requests from people asking me to help them get a scholarship. I’m not affiliated with any of the universities or scholarship providers listed here. I can’t provide individualized recommendations for scholarships. I can review a limited number of social science scholarship applications as my schedule permits.
Great resources for scholarships
The following sites are also great resources for scholarships. New entries are marked with an asterisk.