Deadline: 21-Apr-23

The Mandela Rhodes Foundation has launched its Scholarship which combines financial support with a leadership programme that will challenge you, grow you, and connect you to young African changemakers – just like you.

The leadership development programme

The programme is built on the founding principles of reconciliation, education, entrepreneurship, and leadership, and a belief that leadership begins with inner transformation. The Foundation aims to keep Nelson Mandela’s legacy alive by equipping young African leaders with the competence and courage to transform the continent into a place where everyone has equal opportunity to thrive. The programme is delivered primarily through a series of week-long residential workshops which you will attend during your time in residence.

Financial support

The Mandela Rhodes Scholarship offers comprehensive funding for the core costs associated with your studies. It covers tuition for a one-year Honours degree or a two-year Masters degree in any field at a recognised South African institution of higher education. This includes tuition and registration fees, allowances for study materials, research, and medical aid, accommodation and meals, personal allowance and economy class travel to and from your home country to your South African university at the beginning and end of your degree. You will also receive a personal allowance.

How are Mandela Rhodes Scholars selected?

The Foundation looks for young leaders who aspire to the principles below and who have demonstrated the potential to live them out.

• Leadership
  • Do you aspire to be a visionary leader who has moral authority? Do you see leadership as more than just personal ambition – as a way to pursue the advancement of equality and freedom, human rights and human dignity? And do you want to guide and inspire others to reach their full potential?
• Reconciliation
  • Do you believe that reconciliation – combined with reparation – is the key to harnessing an imperfect past to develop a more just world? And are you prepared to start the process by looking at your own internal landscape?
• Education
  • Do you have excellent academic results but believe that your education should not only benefit you but make a difference for others? And do you agree that intellectual excellence must be accompanied by character and a rounded personality?
• Entrepreneurship
  • Do you want to see Africa take its rightful place as an equal and competitive presence in the global world? Have you demonstrated individual effort, innovation and creativity to this end?

Eligibility Criteria

• You are a citizen of an African country.
• You are between the ages of 19 and 29.
• By 1 Jan 2024, you will an undergraduate degree with excellent academic results (above 70% or upper-second class Honours).
• You can study at a postgraduate level in English.

For more information, visit Mandela Rhodes Foundation.