Deadline Extended for the Ashinaga Africa Initiative Scholarship Applications for Orphaned Students

The Ashinaga Africa Initiative has opened applications across Africa for its Leadership Programme 2024, a fully funded undergraduate degree abroad.

Talented young people from all around sub-Saharan Africa who have lost one or both parents can now apply to the Ashinaga Africa Initiative (AAI) to pursue undergraduate studies in Japan, the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States.

The programme supports talented students from across Sub-Saharan Africa who have lost one or both parents by providing fully funded university scholarships for undergraduate study in Japan, the U.K., Europe, and the U.S.A. In addition, they help those admitted to the programme secure top-quality internships and job opportunities across sub-Saharan Africa.

According to the initiative, “It is our vision for those in our programme to become strong, progressive leaders and return to their community or continent to contribute significant positive change.”

The application is open to those who: 

• Have lost one or both parents. 
• Have completed secondary school and passed the national secondary school examination (technical and vocational degrees are not accepted) within the last two years (any date after September 1, 2021, including all of 2022 and 2023) or will have completed secondary school and received final exam results before February 9, 2024).  
• Were born after September 1, 2001.
• Are regularly ranked in the top 10% of their class during their last 2 or 3 years of secondary school. 
• Are committed to returning home, or to Sub-Saharan Africa, and contributing to society in Sub-Saharan Africa after graduating from university. 

The online application form can be accessed here.

This booklet answers all key questions about the application process and should help students submit strong applications that will stand out during the assessment process. The initiative also has a physical registration form that can be printed and completed by hand. When it is complete, applicants should send it to [email protected].

The deadline for registration is January 19, 2024, for Anglophone and Francophone countries, but all students are encouraged to submit their initial registration sooner rather than later.

Eligible Countries

Applicants must have citizenship and have completed or are completing high school in one of the following countries:

Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, CAR, Cameroon, Chad, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, DRC, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry, Kenya, Kingdom of Eswatini, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Seychelles, Sudan, Tanzania, The Gambia, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Find more information on the application process here and more information about the initiative here.