Ashinaga is now accepting applications from orphaned students (who have lost one or both parents) in Sub Saharan Africa for its 2022 Africa Initiative program. The deadline for submission of application for the Ashinaga Africa Initiative program is January 28, 2022.

The Ashinaga Africa Initiative is a fully funded academic leadership program that aims to provide high potential orphaned students from across Sub Saharan Africa with access to higher education  in Japan, the U.K, Europe and the U.S.A. 

The Ashinaga Africa Initiative began in 2014. Its mission is to contribute to sub-Saharan Africa’s expanding role in global development through increasing access to higher education abroad. They support orphaned students who are committed to returning home and initiating change, by providing access to full financial support to study at a university abroad (equivalent to an undergraduate degree).

Ashinaga Africa Initiative Eligibility

Applicants must:

• 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 August 2, 2019 including all of 2020 and 2021) or will have completed secondary school and received final exam results before February 28, 2022.   
• Be born after September 1, 1999.    
• Not have the means to attend university abroad without external financial support.   
• Be proficient in English, French or Portuguese.    
• Be regularly ranked in the top 10% of their class during their last 2 or 3 years of secondary school.   
• Be able to participate in the two Ashinaga preparatory programs, over the course of one year, before attending university.   
• Be 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.

Eligible Countries

Applicants must 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. 

Ashinaga Africa Initiative Funding

• 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. 

Ashinaga Africa Initiative Program Selection Process

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.

How to Apply for Ashinaga Africa Initiative Program

There are two stages to the Ashinaga Africa Initiative application process:  

• Applicant Registration: all applicants must first confirm their eligibility by registering for the program. Only students who register for the program and are deemed eligible will receive the application form by email. Each decision about an applicant’s eligibility is based on the criteria outlined above and their academic record. AAI’s expectations for the academic record of an applicant reflects the academic level they expect students to have in order thrive as part of their intensive leadership program.
• Application: all students who register for the program will receive an email with a link to the application form within 1 month of their registration if they are eligible for the program.

The application deadline is Midnight GMT  Friday  28th  January  2022. The deadline for applicants from Lusophone countries (Angola, Cabo Verde, Guinea Bissau, São Tomé and Príncipe and Mozambique) is Midnight GMT  Friday, October 15,  2021.