Pioneering ECOWAS (Economic Commission for West African States) funded students have reported for classes at the Universities of Lagos and Ibadan in Nigeria. Those selected for UCAD will have reported by mid March 2016.

The ECOWAS Fellowship 2015 Call saw a total of 75 ECOWAS nationals (30 of these being women) receiving full fellowships to support their Masters and Doctoral studies.The maiden edition of the ECOWAS Fellowship Programme for Masters and PhD (EFP) is funded by the ECOWAS. The Programme seeks to promote capacity building within the ECOWAS 15-member countries by providing full fellowships for training and education for nationals of ECOWAS member states in higher education institutions of ECOWAS.

1. The University of Ibadan received 25 fellows (15 Masters and 10 PhD)
2. The University of Lagos received 33 fellows (22 Masters and 11 PhD)
3. The Universite Cheikh Anta Diop received 17 fellows (12 Masters and 5 PhD)

The Association of African Universities is grateful for the support provided by the Economic Commission for West African States. AAU is very concerned about the demand for scholarships versus the funds available. To this end we continue to call on African governments to contribute more resources towards supporting Higher Education in Africa.

During the Higher Education Summit in Dakar Senegal in March 2015 the thorny issue of the low level of investments in African Higher Education was extensively discussed. On average, governments in Sub-Saharan Africa invest about one fifth of their education budget in higher education, which translates into 0.9% of Gross Domestic Product. Even though this is on par with other developing countries it is not enough for Africa’s immense human capacity development needs.