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. The initiative supports orphaned students who are committed to returning home and initiating change, by providing access to full financial support to study an undergraduate degree at a university abroad. Ashinaga support covers tuition, accommodation, travel costs, and other necessary fees.
Started 50 years ago, the Ashinaga movement provides scholarships to support students from Japan and around the world who have lost one or both parents, or who have a parent who is unable to work due to a disability.
The Ashinaga movement began after the founder and President Yoshiomi Tamai lost his mother in a traffic accident in 1963. Having experienced first-hand the lack of support an orphan receives, Tamai and a group of like-minded individuals went on to found the Association for Traffic Accident Orphans in 1967.
Ashinaga Africa Initiative Details
- Host Institution: Universities abroad.
- Field of study: Available programs at candidate’s host institutions.
- Number of awards: Not specified.
- Duration: Applicant’s program duration.
- Target group: Please find the full list below.
Ashinaga Africa Initiative Program Benefits
The Ashinaga Africa Initiative scholarship provides successful applicants with a full financial support to study at universities abroad (equivalent to undergraduate degree), including tuition, room, travel cost and other necessary fees.
Eligible Countries
Ashinaga Africa Initiative program is open to people who have citizenship and have completed/are completing secondary 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 Program Eligibility
To qualify for this foundation scholarship, 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 2nd August 2021, including all of 2022 and 2023) or will have completed secondary school and received final exam results before February 2nd, 2024.
- Have citizenship and have completed/are completing secondary school in one of the eligible countries above.
- Were born after 1st September 2001.
- Do not have the means to attend university until graduation 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.
- Are able to participate in the two Ashinaga preparatory programs, over the course of one year, before attending university.
- Are committed to returning home, or to Sub-Saharan Africa, and contributing 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.
Note : Ashinaga does not discriminate by gender, race, ethnic background, culture, disability, sexual orientation, religion or any other factors during its recruitment process.
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How to Apply for the Ashinaga Africa Initiative Program?
There is no application fee, and you must never pay anyone to apply or to apply on your behalf. There are two stages to the Ashinaga Africa Initiative application process:
- Registration: all applicants must first confirm their eligibility by registering for the program. Only students who register for the program and are deemed eligible (based on the criteria/eligibility above) will receive the application form.
- 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.
There are three ways to apply: Online, by email, or by post. Since applying online is the simplest and recommended way to apply, we will only show the online application process here.
- Create a new account using the ‘Apply’ button below.
- You will receive an e-mail (please check spam/junk box) with instructions to begin your registration.
- Complete your Eligibility Profile to confirm you are eligible for the Ashinaga Africa Initiative.
- Follow the instructions to complete the applicable registration form.
You will be required to submit the following documents at each stage of the application process:
Applicant Registration
- Photo or scan of at least one of the following documents: Passport, National ID Card or Birth Certificate
- Photo or scan of your most recent High School Term Report/Transcript
- Photo or scan of your final High School Examination Results Certificate (if applicable).
Full Application Required Documents
Applicants should prepare the following documents:
- Passport style photograph
- Passport or National ID Card
- Birth certificate of the applicant.
- Death certificate of deceased parent(s), including the deceased parent’s name, or alternative official documentation proving the death of the parent(s) or orphan status.
- All term reports / secondary school transcripts from the last 2 years.
- Final secondary school examination certificate, showing grades in each subject
- A letter of recommendation from a principal or schoolteacher. This should be inclusive of their email address, and phone number and must contain information about your performance and character whilst at secondary school. All recommendation letters should contain an official signature or stamp.
- Academic transcripts or other results from university (if applicable)
- Certificates for extracurricular activities, training courses, jobs or other commitments (if applicable).
Note : All documents must be submitted in French, English, or Portuguese if possible. Use the Gregorian (Western) calendar to fill in the application. For students receiving their examination results in February 2024, they will be asked to send their examination certificates as soon as possible after they’ve received them.
Ashinaga takes students’ goals and preferences into account but has the right to make the final decision with regard to the selection of major, country, and university. Students are able to express their initial choice of major at the time of the interview, and a final decision will be made during the course of the Study Camp through consultation with Ashinaga. Scholars are encouraged to apply to the universities that Ashinaga has an existing relationship with, therefore it is not possible for students to choose universities themselves.
Note : Ashinaga does not support candidates for medical (doctor), dentistry, veterinary science or pharmacy degrees although it does support three or four-year degrees in biomedicine. In addition, candidates wishing to study engineering should be aware that strong and relevant high school grades are required for successful applications.
The deadline to submit application for this program for orphans is January 12, 2024 at 23:59 (UTC). For more details on the Ashinaga Africa Initiative, please visit the official page. To be the first to see latest opportunities, please follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.
