Scholarships for West African Young Professionals - Study Integration in a Euro-African Context

The WAI-ZEI Cooperation project offers seven scholarships for West African young professionals to study the "Master of European Studies - Governance and Regulation" (MES) at ZEI in Bonn in the years 2015 and 2016. Scholarships cover the tuition fee of 6.500 €.

„I applied for the Master of European Studies  – Governance and Regulation (MES), because I want to learn more about European concepts of regulation in critical sectors like water, electricity or telecommunications. These are sectors where Africa still suffers from serious deficits. Therefore, I would like to learn what has been done well in Europe in this context and what we could improve,“ says Caleb Fagade, WAI-ZEI scholarship holder, when asked for his motivation for the MES. Caleb Fagade, who comes from Nigeria is one of West African students who study at ZEI in the framework of the research project “Sustainable Regional Integration in West Africa and Europe”, a collaboration of the West Africa Institute (WAI) in Praia, Cape Verde, and ZEI, which is sponsored by the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Every year, the WAI-ZEI fellowship covers the tuition fee of 6,500 Euros of up to seven West African graduates, including educational materials, field trips to EU institutions and the Career Development Program. Caleb is accompanied by Seydi Ababacar Diop from Senegal and Lamin Dampha from The Gambia. For Lamin Dampha, who works in the responsible integration Ministry in his home country, the MES is a chance to further deepen his knowledge in the field of regional integration: „I would like to help my country to shape the West African integration agenda in a constructive way“, he says. Seydi Ababacar Diop adds that the completion of the program offers him better opportunities in the African job market, given the fact regional and continental integration is an issue of ever growing importance and increasingly influences the every-day lives of citizens. Lamin Dampha concludes: „We have learned that no country can stand the challenges of globalization individually. Therefore, regional integration will certainly shape our future. In this context, Europe is the best example to learn from in terms of success but also in terms of crises.“

The Master of European Studies – Governance and Regulation is characterized by consistently high academic standards and a fruitful working atmosphere among faculty members and students from around the world. In close collaboration with other institutions of the University of Bonn, alumni and local companies, the curriculum is supplemented by offering further career development activities that facilitate the entry into the international labor market after successful graduation.

The application period for the upcoming program year (from October 2015), has already begun. Interested candidates from around the world can apply for the Master of European Studies – Governance and Regulation until 15 March 2015. The Master‘s degree is awarded by the Faculty of Arts at the University of Bonn. Detailed information on the application process can be found on the program’s website. In addition, interested candidates are invited to come to ZEI and get a first impression of the program’s structure on the spot or to get in contact with the MES alumni directly.  For the next program year, WAI and ZEI will again offer seven scholarships for qualified West African candidates. Interested students or professionals from the sub-region who are fluent in Eng-lish, can apply by sending their documents to WAI or directly to ZEI´s Master office. The scholarships do not cover any living or travel expenses.