DAAD In-Country/In-Region Master's Scholarships for graduates from Sub-Saharan Africa

DAAD In-Country/In-Region Master's Scholarships for graduates from Sub-Saharan Africa

DAAD In-Country/In-Region Master's Scholarships 2026

Applications are open for the DAAD In-Country/In-Region Master's Scholarships 2026, funded by the German Academic Exchange Service for graduates from Sub-Saharan Africa. If you have been assuming that a German-funded scholarship means packing your bags for Europe, this one works differently, and that difference is the whole point of the programme.

Application deadline: 12 November 2026

Contents

• You study in Africa, Germany pays
• At a glance
• Which Master's programmes are eligible?
• What does the funding actually cover?
• Who can apply?
• Required documents
• How to apply

You study in Africa, Germany pays

This is not a scholarship to study in Germany. DAAD funds you to complete a development-related Master's degree on the African continent, under one of two formulas:

• In-Country — You study in your own country.
• In-Region — You study in another country within the region.

The objective is to train qualified professionals who stay and contribute to their country's development rather than joining the brain drain.

For candidates who do want to study in Germany itself, the DAAD Helmut Schmidt Master's Scholarship is the better fit, particularly for public policy and governance profiles.

At a glance

Criterion	Details
Funding body	DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service)
Programme	In-Country/In-Region Scholarships
Level	Master's
Target group	Bachelor's graduates from Sub-Saharan Africa
Place of study	Home country or another country in the region
Funding	Full
Deadline	12 November 2026

Which Master's programmes are eligible?

Your field determines your shortlist far more than your nationality does. The eligible programmes include:

Field	Country / Institution
Water and Environmental Engineering	Burkina Faso (2iE)
Seed Science and Technology	Ghana (University of Ghana)
Agricultural Economics	Ghana
Plant Breeding	Kenya (Chuka University)
Environmental Health	Ethiopia, Malawi
Aquaculture and Fisheries Science	Malawi
Climate Change and Disaster Management	Uganda
Power Systems Engineering	Rwanda
Geomatics	Tanzania

No Cameroonian institution appears on this list. If you are based in Cameroon, your route is In-Region — Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda or Burkina Faso. That is the better formula anyway: it adds the travel ticket and health insurance on top of everything In-Country candidates receive.

This list is not exhaustive. The complete list of participating programmes is published in the DAAD scholarship database.

What does the funding actually cover?

Coverage is not identical across the two formulas, and this is worth checking before you choose a programme:

Coverage	In-Country	In-Region
Monthly allowance	Yes	Yes
Tuition fees	Yes	Yes
Study and research allowance	Yes	Yes
Thesis publication costs	Yes	Yes
Travel ticket	No	Yes
Health insurance	No	Yes

The In-Region formula carries the heavier package precisely because it involves crossing a border. If your target programme exists both at home and abroad, that is a real financial difference to weigh.

Who can apply?

• Be a national of a Sub-Saharan African country
• Hold a recognised Bachelor's degree
• Apply to an eligible Master's programme in your country or region
• Meet the specific admission requirements of your chosen university

Women, recognised refugees and candidates from disadvantaged regions are particularly encouraged to apply. This is not boilerplate language — DAAD applies it in selection.

To widen your options, see our selection of fully funded scholarships for African students. If Europe remains your preference, the Eiffel Excellence Scholarship in France is another route worth comparing.

If none of the listed fields matches your background, you can also earn an international degree online without leaving home: Unicaf offers partial scholarships for Bachelor's, Master's and doctoral degrees across a far wider range of disciplines.

Required documents

• Degree certificates (Bachelor's and any others)
• Academic transcripts
• CV
• Motivation letter
• Any additional documents required by the host university

How to apply

1. Select an eligible Master's programme from the programme list
2. Check the admission requirements of the university concerned
3. Prepare the required documents
4. Submit your application on the DAAD portal before 12 November 2026

The step most applicants rush is the first one. Your application is read against a specific host university's admission file, not against a generic DAAD standard — so pick the programme where your Bachelor's background gives the department a concrete reason to admit you.

Each host university runs its own selection and may set a deadline earlier than the DAAD one. Confirm the procedure and the cut-off date directly with your target institution rather than building your calendar around 12 November.

Apply on the DAAD portal

African professionals already leading in their communities may also want to look at the Mandela Washington Fellowship (YALI) in the United States, or the Mo Ibrahim Foundation Leadership Fellowship Program for mid-career candidates targeting multilateral institutions.

Official links

Resource	Link
Application portal	mydaad.b2clogin.com
DAAD scholarship database	daad.de

Read also

• DAAD Helmut Schmidt Master's Scholarship in Germany
• Eiffel Excellence Scholarship in France
• Fully funded scholarships for African students
• Mo Ibrahim Foundation Leadership Fellowship Program

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