Ashinaga Africa Initiative Scholarship
Ashinaga Foundation
Full funding to study abroad for students from sub-Saharan Africa who have lost one or both parents. The Francophone 2027 Orientation Programme closed 30 August 2026; Anglophone countries including Ghana are now nominated through partner high schools.
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Eligibility
- Who can apply
- Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Comoros and 15 more
- Education required
- Bachelors completed
- Fields
- Any field of study
- Language
- Francophone route: fluent French, with preparation for tests such as the DALF paid for by Ashinaga
- Residency
- Must have citizenship of, and have completed or be completing high school in, one of the eligible countries
- Also required
- Must have lost one or both parents, evidenced by a death or disappearance certificate or an equivalent official document
- Ghana and other Anglophone countries: since August 2024 Ashinaga no longer opens direct applications and instead partners with selected high schools to identify eligible students
- Francophone route: obtained a bachelor's degree in 2026 or due to by June 2027, born after 1 September 2001, without the financial means to fund a master's in France
- Above 14/20 in the baccalaureat or above 75 per cent in the state exam, and excellent undergraduate marks
- Able to join online Orientation Programme sessions from September 2026 to June 2027, which needs a computer and a stable internet connection for a few hours a week
- Committed to returning home or elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa to contribute to African society after graduating
- No dependants that would interfere with studies, and in good health and able to study internationally
- Health-related master's subjects (medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, veterinary science, public health, biomedicine) are not supported, and nor is law other than business law
- Joining the Orientation Programme does not guarantee the scholarship; the final decision is taken in June 2027
- The application and selection process is free - never pay anyone to apply
About this opportunity
The Ashinaga Africa Initiative (AAI) has run since 2014 and exists for one group the catalogue otherwise has nothing for: orphaned students. Ashinaga supports students from sub-Saharan Africa who have lost one or both parents and who commit to returning home to contribute to African society, by providing full financial support to study at a university abroad. Ashinaga support covers tuition, accommodation, travel costs and other necessary fees. The organisation is careful about scale rather than volume: its FAQ says it is only able to take about one student per country per year and cannot guarantee a student from each country every year.
How you enter the programme depends on which country you are in. Since August 2024 Ashinaga no longer opens applications for students in Anglophone countries; instead it partners with selected high schools in each Anglophone country to identify and select eligible students. Ghana is an Anglophone country, so Ghanaian students cannot apply directly and must be identified through a partner school. Applications remain open for students in Francophone and Lusophone countries. The Francophone route runs through an Orientation Programme: candidates join online sessions from September to June, receive academic and career coaching, mentoring, help building university applications and paid-for preparation for tests such as the DALF, and only some participants are then selected for the full AAI scholarship, with that decision taken in June 2027 for the 2027 cohort. Ashinaga covers all costs of participating in the Orientation Programme.
For the Francophone 2027 cohort, applicants had to have lost one or both parents; be a citizen of Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Comoros, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Gabon, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, the Seychelles, Chad or Togo (the requirements page and the form's own nationality menu list Guinea; the form's prose omits it and lists Mauritania instead, so both are carried); have obtained a bachelor's degree in 2026 or be due to by June 2027; be born after 1 September 2001; lack the means to fund a master's in France; be fluent in French; have scored above 14/20 in the baccalaureat or above 75 per cent in the state exam; and have excellent undergraduate marks. Health-related master's subjects including medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, veterinary science, public health and biomedicine are not supported, and nor is law except business law. The application and selection process is free: Ashinaga states that anyone asking for payment at any stage is acting against its wishes and must not be paid.
- Level
- Undergraduate, Master's
- Where
- Multiple countries
- Duration
- Orientation Programme runs online from September 2026 to June 2027; the scholarship then funds a full degree abroad
- Number of awards
- About one student per country per year
- Difficulty
- High · about 8 weeks to prepare
Funding
Fully funded
- tuition
- accommodation
- travel
- training
Ashinaga provides full financial support to study at a university abroad; support covers tuition, accommodation, travel costs and other necessary fees. Ashinaga also covers all costs linked to the Orientation Programme, including examination fees, application fees and internet. Its support cannot be combined with another scholarship of equivalent or greater value covering living expenses; in that case only leadership support is offered. Amounts are not published.
What you will need
- Passport or national ID
- Academic transcripts
- Degree certificate
- Essays
- Other documents
A passport-sized photo; a copy of your passport or identity card; a copy of your birth certificate; a copy of your parent's death or disappearance certificate or an alternative official document proving orphan status (a court record, affidavit or official letter from a local government official is accepted if no death certificate exists); your baccalaureate certificate or other proof of completing secondary education with the detailed examination transcript; proof of university enrolment and transcripts to date; and optionally certificates of extracurricular activities, training or employment. The form also contains personal questions and essays.
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