15+ Annual Full Scholarships for African Students

It’s no longer news how the cost of education is increasing regardless of country, the same applies to other expenses like feeding, clothing, and transportation. And, the worst of it is there is very little or no improvement in the amount of income made in so many parts of the country in Africa.

Even though education is a fundamental human right for everyone, several countries in Africa still find it difficult to provide an affordably-good education. So most African Students are seeking better alternatives to study abroad, but their desires don’t make studying outside their home country cheaper.

Fortunately, there are several full scholarships for African students, and these scholarships won’t only cover all your tuition, but also provide a monthly stipend and some other allowances. This financial aid is similar to what some governments provide to foreign students. We would advise those that are skillful in Football, Basketball, Volleyball, Tennis, and Gymnastics to apply for fully-funded athletic scholarships

But, even if you’re not good in any of these sports, and have another you’re skillful at, you can still try some partial athletic scholarships, which gives you the advantage to use your athletic skill to pay for your education

full scholarships for African students

Full Scholarships for African Students

1. Commonwealth Distance Learning Master’s Scholarships

This scholarship is awarded to eligible low and middle-income Commonwealth countries, to undertake part-time taught Master’s study with UK universities while remaining in their home countries. The scholarship is mostly for African students, and scholars will receive full-tuition scholarships.

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2. Rotary Peace Fellowships

This is among the full scholarships for African students awarded by Rotary to dedicated leaders from more than 140 countries in the world, including those in Africa to study at one of their peace centers. The fellowships cover tuition and fees, room and board, round-trip transportation, and internship and field-study expenses.

You can either choose to take advantage of their fellowships for master’s degrees or their certificate studies at premier universities.

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3. Chevening Scholarship

Chevening Scholarship is provided by the United Kingdom government to several students from lots of countries including students from Africa. The scholarship is totally funded to study for a 1-year master’s degree in the UK, and after your scholarship, you will join more than 50,000 global alumni.

The scholarship will also provide a monthly stipend, travel costs to and from the UK, an arrival allowance, a travel grant to attend Chevening events in the UK, etc.

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4. Fulbright Foreign Student Program for African Students

Fulbright Foreign Student Program easily fits our list of full scholarships for African students due to the worth, first of all, it will cover your tuition. It will also cover your round-trip airfare to the U.S., a settling-in allowance, monthly stipend, housing allowance, books-and-supplies allowance, computer allowance, etc.  

To be eligible, you need to be a Doctoral or Ph.D. student who has completed a significant amount of their doctoral program in their home country’s university and has the endorsement of their home institution.

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5. University of Glasgow African Excellence Award

If you’re intending to start a 1 year postgraduate taught Master’s programme, then the University of Glasgow could be a nice place to do it due to their provision of up to 15 scholarships for International students from Africa. Also, it doesn’t matter the discipline you’re enrolling in, and the scholarship will completely waive your tuition fee.

However, the scholarship is very competitive and applicants need to demonstrate academic excellence and achieve grades equivalent to a UK 1st Class Honours.

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6. Oppenheimer Fund Academic Exchanges – University of Oxford

This is one of the fully-funded scholarships for African students that have previously studied in South African Universities and now intend to study at the University of Oxford. The scholarship will cover up to the cost of a return flight (up to £850) and one month of living expenses (£1200 for visits to South Africa or £1600 for those to Oxford).

7. MSFS – African Student Scholarship

The Master of Science in Foreign Service @ Georgetown University has been providing a full-tuition scholarship for a talented graduate student from sub-Saharan Africa since 2014. They give Special consideration to applicants from Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, and South Africa.

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8. Sub-Saharan Africa Leadership Award – Tulane University

This is one of the few undergraduate full scholarships for African students renewable for 4 years. It is awarded to multiple full-time undergraduate students from and studying in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Preference is given to candidates that have strong academic and extracurricular credentials. And, you don’t need to submit any extra application, the scholarship is awarded automatically in the university.

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9. Yale Young African Scholars (YYAS) Alumni Scholarship

Just like that name, this scholarship will be awarded to selected students who completed the YYAS program in any summer. The scholarship covers full tuition and travel costs for students to attend any of the YYGS sessions.

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10. Luiss Guido Carli Scholarships to Africa

Luiss Guido Carli provides some partial and full scholarships to African students such as;

  • Scholarships for Refugees students – UNHCR registered – in Kenya, Niger, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe
  • International Students Scholarship
  • Sub-Saharan Africa Project

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11. The Chanrai Family Graduate Scholarship

This scholarship is not for all African students but just academically outstanding and financially needy students from Ghana. The scholarship covers the tuition and living expenses for graduates of the University of Ghana who have been admitted into a graduate program at Northeastern University.

Beyond the full tuition this scholarship covers, it will also cover scholars’ living expenses, and required books for the entire duration of the program, provided the student is in good academic standing.

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12. The Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program

The Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program has been providing full scholarships for African students since 2012, and since then, approximately 40,000 scholars have benefited from it. The scholarship is for both students pursuing secondary and tertiary education.

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13. The ADP Scholarship

This is a full-tuition award for LL.M. traditional track and thesis provided by Berkeley Law, for African students with superior academic credentials. Because funds are extremely limited, the ADP Scholarship can only be provided to two outstanding applicants each year.

You won’t need to submit a separate application for this scholarship, all applicants are considered.

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14. Zawadi Africa Education Fund

The Zawadi Africa Education Fund is a program designed to provide scholarships to academically gifted girls from disadvantaged backgrounds in Africa to pursue higher education in the U.S.A, Uganda, Ghana, South Africa, and Kenya. The scholarship is also competitive and applicants need to have a minimum GPA of 3.75.

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15. The University of Sheffield Africa Scholarship

This is one of the full scholarships for African students provided in partnership with the University of Sheffield Africa Scholarship Trust and the Department of Geography. The award is given to one postgraduate-taught student from Africa. 

Further, the scholarship will cover the total tuition of the recipient, and also the maintenance stipend.

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16. London School of Economics and Political Science Scholarships for African Students

LSE provides several scholarships to African students which range in value from 10% of the tuition fee to a full fees and maintenance award. Whether you’re pursuing Bachelor’s, Master’s, or Research program, there’s a scholarship for you.

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Conclusion

You can see there are a lot of fully-funded scholarships for African students, but you should know that these scholarships will be very competitive. You’ll be lucky to see a scholarship that has a minimum GPA lower than 3.5.

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