Fellowships for Africans: Open Now (Updated November 2026)

Young African professional working on a laptop, with the headline Fellowships for Africans, open now

Every fellowship on this page is open now and accepts applicants from Africa. Where one leaves out some African countries, including Nigeria, we say so. Each links to our full guide, written from the organiser’s own announcement, with what it pays, who qualifies and how to apply. We update this page every month and take closed fellowships off it.

Want only the ones you qualify for? Answer five questions on the OpportunityLab Portal and we’ll match you by your level, field and age.

Leadership and changemaker fellowships

IWA-Grundfos Youth Action for SDG 6 Fellowship 2027–2028: Two-year programme for young water and sanitation innovators up to 35, with funded travel to London, Denmark and Malaysia. Deadline: 5 November 2026.
Fortis Fellowship 2027: Funded leadership fellowship and summit in Medellín, Colombia, for leaders from humble beginnings. Deadline: 8 November 2026.
Dalai Lama Fellows 2027: A global community for young changemakers working on social innovation and community development. Deadline: 11 November 2026.
East-West Center Advanced Leadership Program 2027: Funded two-month fellowship in Hawai‘i for experienced professionals. Deadline: 15 November 2026.
Sir Cyril Taylor Young African Leaders Program 2027: Fully funded, with a Geneva trip and seed funding, for young leaders aged 18–35 from sub-Saharan Africa. Deadline: 19 November 2026.
IREX Community Solutions Program 2027: Fully funded US exchange for community leaders from 11 African countries. Not open to Nigeria or South Africa. Deadline: 24 November 2026.
Project Kuongoza for Women and Girls 2026/27: Free six-month STEM mentorship and fellowship for women and girls aged 18–35. Deadline: 30 November 2026.
ifa CrossCulture Programme Fellowship 2027: Funded stay in Germany for civil society professionals, including from Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya and Mauritania. Deadline: 8 December 2026.
Officially Green Global Fellowship 2027: Free sustainability fellowship for ages 18–35 in any country. Deadline: 7 January 2027.
Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity 2027–28: Fully funded at LSE with a £23,000 stipend, for mid-career people with 7+ years challenging inequality. Deadline: 11 January 2027.
Stanford Fisher Family Summer Fellows Program 2027: Three-week leadership fellowship at Stanford for democracy and development leaders, including from Africa. Deadline: 12 January 2027.
beVisioneers Mercedes-Benz Fellowship 2027/28: Up to €15,000 for eco-innovators aged 18–28 in Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe (not Nigeria). Deadline: 31 January 2027.

For young founders

Anzisha Fellowship 2027: Cash stipends, coaching and US$40,000 in prizes for African founders aged 15–22 running a business. Deadline: 10 November 2026.
Maple Global Innovation Fellowship 2026: Innovation and entrepreneurship fellowship covering AI and robotics. Rolling applications.

Journalism fellowships

UN Journalism Fellowship 2027 in Doha: Fully funded trip for journalists from least developed countries; 32 African countries are eligible. Deadline: 30 November 2026.
Nieman-Berkman Klein Fellowship in Journalism Innovation 2027–28: US$90,000 at Harvard for journalists with five or more years of experience. Deadline: 1 December 2026.
JSK Journalism Fellowships 2027–2028: A $135,000 stipend at Stanford for journalists with five or more years of experience. Deadline: 2 December 2026.
GIJC27 Fellowship: Free trip to the Global Investigative Journalism Conference in Rotterdam for journalists from developing countries. Deadline: 31 January 2027.

AI, technology and internet fellowships

HP-UCL IOE Fellowship in AI in Education 2027: Leadership programme with a London residential for senior education leaders in Africa, Asia and Europe. Deadline: 7 November 2026.
Gates Foundation AI Fellows Program 2026: A 12-month AI fellowship in Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia and South Africa for graduates with two or more years applying AI. Deadline: 11 November 2026.
GovAI UK Summer Fellowship 2027: £14,000 for three months of AI governance research in London, with visa sponsorship. Deadline: 22 November 2026.
Internet Society Fellowship Program 2027: Up to USD 5,000 for a project, plus mentorship and travel; open to all. Deadline: 22 November 2026.
Mozilla Fellowship 2027–2028: US$100,000–125,000 for technologists, researchers and builders; letter of intent first. Deadline: 17 December 2026.
HIIG Impact AI Fellowship 2027: A €5,000 stipend for a ten-week AI impact assessment programme in Berlin. Deadline: 15 January 2027.
Climate Risk Lab Data Science and Machine Learning Fellowship 2027: A paid one-year role in Cape Town. Rolling applications.
DAAD Heilbronn AI Fellowship 2026/2027: €2,800 a month for international AI postdocs in Germany. Rolling applications.

Research and academic fellowships

EPFL AI Center Postdoctoral Fellowships 2026: Paid AI research in Switzerland, open to any nationality. Deadline: 9 November 2026.
Jane Street Graduate Research Fellowship 2027: Full tuition and a US$50,000 stipend for PhD students in maths, physics, statistics and computing. Deadline: 13 November 2026.
HKU Social Sciences Global South Fellowship 2026/27: Funded visiting fellowship in Hong Kong for African academics. Deadline: 22 November 2026.
IBCI Blue Carbon Fellowship 2026: US$60,000 for blue carbon scientists, with Africa prioritised. Deadline: 23 November 2026.
Stanford GLAM Postdoctoral Fellowships 2027–2029: US$80,000 a year for early-career scientists. Deadline: 30 November 2026.
Stanton Nuclear Security Fellowships 2027–2028: Up to $137,000 at MIT. Deadline: 30 November 2026.
Harvard Environmental Fellows Program 2027: A two-year postdoc paying $92,000 a year. Deadline: 1 December 2026.
Belfer Center Technology and Geopolitics Fellowship 2027–28: Up to US$80,000 at Harvard for AI and emerging-tech research. Deadline: 1 December 2026.
Stanford APARC Postdoctoral and Visiting Fellowships 2027–2029: Up to US$83,000 a year. Deadline: 1 December 2026.
Global Burden of Disease Fellowship 2027: A US$105,000 postdoc at IHME in Seattle, with visa sponsorship. Deadline: 21 December 2026.
Duke HOPE Center Visiting Scholars Program 2027–2028: Research residency in the history of political economy. Deadline: 4 January 2027.
IIASA Young Scientists Summer Program 2027: Three-month PhD research programme in Austria. Deadline: 10 January 2027.
APDD Individual Research Fellowships 2027: Up to US$12,000 for peacebuilding research in Africa, for African nationals. Deadline: 15 January 2027.
Yale Tobin Center Pre-Doctoral Fellows 2027–2028: Paid economics research jobs at Yale, with a J-1 visa sponsored. Rolling applications.

Policy and public service fellowships

Hans de Wit Fellowship 2027–2028: A funded visit to Boston College for higher education researchers. Deadline: 15 November 2026.
World Bank Government Analytics Fellowship 2027: For public servants working with government data. Deadline: 16 November 2026.
Echidna Global Scholars Program 2027 at Brookings: Fully funded fellowship for education leaders. Deadline: 1 December 2026.

More lists

Eligibility: who can apply, and what to check first

Check the countries. “Global” fellowships usually accept Africans, but some list eligible countries, and a few leave out Nigeria. Each guide says which.
Check the age and experience limits. Many leadership fellowships stop at 35; journalism and postdoc fellowships often ask for five years’ experience or a recent PhD.
Funded is not always fully funded. Some pay a stipend and travel, others only cover the programme. The guides say what is paid for.
Apply only through the official page. Every guide links to the organiser’s own application page. OpportunityLab never charges for applications.

Last updated 3 November 2026.