The Rhodes Scholarships for West Africa is generously supported by Miles Morland and the Cohen Charitable Trust.

There is one Rhodes Scholarship for West Africa each year. The Scholarship for West Africa was announced in 2016 and the first Scholar will arrive in October 2017. There had previously been Scholarships for certain countries within this grouping, including Nigeria and Ghana.

Eligible Countries: West Africa Countries 

West Africa includes: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, the island of Saint Helena, Senegal, Sierra Leone, São Tomé and Principe and Togo.

Eligibility Criteria

  • Rhodes Selection Committees are looking for young persons of outstanding intellect, character, leadership, and commitment to service from 20 Rhodes constituencies (64 countries) worldwide.
  • The four criteria governing the selection of Rhodes Scholars are:
  • literary and scholastic attainments (academic excellence)
  • energy to use one’s talents to the full (as demonstrated by mastery in areas such as sports, music, debate, dance, theatre, and artistic pursuits, particularly where teamwork is involved)
  • truth, courage, devotion to duty, sympathy for and protection of the weak, kindliness, unselfishness and fellowship
  • moral force of character and instincts to lead, and to take an interest in one’s fellow beings.
  • All applicants must have completed their undergraduate degree to a very high standard by 1 October of the year following application. In some constituencies, you will need to have completed your degree in the year of application. Academic achievement must be sufficiently high to assure entry to the University of Oxford, whose admissions are internationally competitive, and to give confidence that Rhodes Scholars will perform to a high academic standard in Oxford.

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Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should Click Here to Apply

The Rhodes Trust warmly welcomes applications from talented young persons of diverse backgrounds. Selection of Rhodes Scholars is made without regard to gender, gender identity, marital status, sexual orientation, race, ethnic origin, colour, religion, social background, caste, or disability.

Closing date: Applications for West Africa must be received by midnight, Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), 30 September 2017