2024 Ashinaga Africa Initiative (Cohort – 11)

Applications are now open for the Ashinaga Africa Initiative (AAI), an international leadership program that cultivates the next generation of leaders to contribute to the development of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Its mission is to contribute to sub-Saharan Africa’s expanding role in global development through increasing access to higher education abroad.

AAI Scholars have lost one or both parents and are committed to returning to sub-Saharan Africa to initiate change, innovation, and development. The AAI provides access to full financial support to study at university abroad (equivalent to an undergraduate degree), including tuition, room, travel costs and other necessary fees.

Stages

The programme has three stages.

• Study Camp and Preparation Camp
  • Ashinaga will select students from each Sub-Saharan African country to participate in a Study Camp in Uganda or Senegal from July to December 2024. Anglophone students will normally attend the Camp in Uganda, with Francophone students attending the Camp in Senegal. During the Study Camp, students are assisted in their academic preparation, university applications (to either Japan, the U.K., the U.S.A., or Europe), career planning and leadership development. After completing the Study Camp, the students will progress to a second camp called Preparation Camp. This happens between April and June 2025. Students prepare for the social, cultural, and academic differences they will discover abroad. Students will then proceed to university in August or September of 2025. All of the costs during both camps are fully covered by Ashinaga.
  • Students who wish to join our Japanese language track, in which they study in the Japanese language at a university in Japan, will follow a similar schedule, however, they will focus on intensive Japanese language learning throughout the Study Camp. After the Study Camp, they will move to Japan to spend one or two years at a language school prior to starting their university studies.
• During University
  • The AAI helps students access full financial support to study abroad. The support covers the first possible qualification that can be earned, and the costs of a foundation or preparatory course will also be covered if required. Ashinaga has regional offices to support students during studies in Japan, the U.K., the U.S.A., France and Brazil. Scholars will participate in a mandatory internship in their home country or Sub-Saharan Africa and join Ashinaga’s leadership development programmes. The AAI does not accept applications from students who wish to study for a second degree or master’s degree.
• After Graduation
  • Scholars have the responsibility to return to their home countries or Sub-Saharan Africa within four years after graduating and contribute to the country/region while living there for at least one year. They will have to contact Ashinaga during this period to provide information about their activity and residency.

Eligible Countries:

Have citizenship and have completed/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.

Eligibility Criteria

• The AAI is open to students who:
  • Have lost one or both parents.
  • Have completed secondary school and received the results of their national secondary school examination (technical and vocational degrees not accepted) within the last two years (any date after 2nd August 2021, including all of 2022 and 2023) or will have completed secondary school and received final exam results before February 2nd, 2024.
  • Were born after 1st September 2001.
  • Do not have the means to attend university abroad without external financial support.
  • Are proficient in English French, or Portuguese.
  • Are regularly ranked in the top 10% of their class during their last 2 or 3 years of secondary school.
  • Can participate in the two Ashinaga preparatory programmes, over the course of one year, before attending university.
  • Are committed to return home, or to sub-Saharan Africa, and contribute to society in sub-Saharan Africa after graduating from university.
  • Have no dependents who could interfere with academic progress.
  • Have a good enough health condition to be able to study abroad.

Selection Process (2024)             

• Applications for all countries will be assessed after the application deadline, and successful applicants will be invited to a final assessment. During this assessment, Ashinaga conducts individual interviews and sets an examination to better understand students’ academic abilities and career goals in Sub-Saharan Africa. Students must bring all original academic documents and identification documents to the interview. Failure to do so may result in dismissal from the application process.

For more information, visit AAI.

Deadline: 12 January 2024