African Development Bank through its capacity building program dubbed Japan Africa Dream Scholarship (JADS), is offering funding opportunities to excellent African students for the 2025/2026 school year. Their goal is to enhance human resources capacity in Africa. This award offers high-achieving students a 2-year scholarship to pursue postgraduate studies in Japan.
Eligibility Criteria:
Must be a citizen of one of African Development Bank’s regional member countries
Have at least a Bachelor’s degree or it’s equivalent in the following areas: of health, environmental sustainability, engineering studies or related areas
Have excellent academic records and relevant professional experience
Have a history of support your country’s development efforts
Be 35 years or younger
After earning a bachelor’s degree (or an equivalent university degree) within the last three years, applicants should have at least one year of paid work experience in their native country or in other African nations.
Must be admitted to an approved master’s degree course at a Japanese or African partner university Japanese or African partner university
Should not be enrolled in another graduate program
Applicants must not be an Executive Director, his/her alternate, and/or staff of all types of appointments of the African Development Bank Group or a close relative of the aforementioned by blood or adoption with the term “close relative” defined as: Mother, Father, Sister, Half-sister, Brother, Half-brother, Son, Daughter, Aunt, Uncle, Niece, or Nephew.
What The Japan Africa Dream Scholarship Cover:
Tuition fees for the duration of your program (24 months)
- Living stipends till the end of the program
- Round-trip airfare will be provided from the scholar’s home country to the host university and back at the end of the scholarship period
- A special grant for research and thesis preparation will be given to students who will engage in research
- Health insurance
- Students may be granted additional six (6) months for advance preparatory study or internships after graduation.
- In special circumstances, computer literacy, preparatory language and other similar courses may be covered under the scholarship.
The Award will not cover the following expenses:
- The cost of bringing relatives
- Extracurricular courses or trainings
- Language training
- Expenses related to supplementary educational materials, field trips, participation in workshops/seminars; or Educational equipment such as computers.
Documents Required:
- Updated curriculum vitae
- Proof of employment for each record of employment since earning a Bachelor’s degree
- Certified copy of your most advanced university degree
- Two professional references
- Research plan and proposal
- TOEFL iBT, TOEC test Results
Application Process
- Candidates are to request information, application forms and procedures from the chosen JADS partner university using the provided contacts here
- After receiving the information needed, candidate should complete and submit their applications for admission.
- The university will evaluate and select applicants for admission and give them provisional offer letters.
- The school will sends a list of selected candidates to the African Development Bank (ADB) and the Bank further shares the list with the JADS Program Implementation Unit (PIU) to evaluate the applications based on a set criteria.
- After the evaluation, the ADB contacts the successful candidates and informs the universities.
Important Notice:
- All applications should go through the partner universities. No separate entries should be sent to the bank.
- Only applicants who gain admission and are endorsed by their university will be considered
- Admission by a partner school doesn’t mean you have been selected for the funding support