Sub-Saharan Africa - People

Oxford attracts some of Africa’s best and brightest students. The University currently has just under 250 students from sub-Saharan Africa, studying across the entire breadth of the University’s divisions.

Scholarships
A number of Oxford’s African graduate students have been supported by the world famous and prestigious Rhodes Scholarships which are awarded to outstanding all-round students and cover the costs of graduate study at Oxford.

In Africa, the scholarships are available to exceptional individuals from Kenya, Southern Africa (including South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, and Swaziland), Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

In addition to being able to apply to the range of scholarships open to all graduate students, there are many scholarship opportunities specifically aimed at African students, including:

• Three ENI Scholarships available to students from Angola, Ghana and Nigeria.

• Five scholarships supported by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Chevening Scholarship Fund are available for students applying for a part-time Masters degree in International Human Rights Law, and are available to graduates from African Commonwealth countries. 

• Oppenheimer Fund Scholarships open to students normally resident in South Africa who wish to pursue postgraduate study in any of Oxford’s divisions.    

• The Waverley–African Studies Centre Joint Scholarship awarded to one exceptional African candidate from a disadvantaged background to study for an MSc in African Studies.

These are just a few of the many scholarship opportunities open to African scholars. More detailed information can be found at the Graduate Scholarships website.

Oxford is currently home to nearly 30 staff members (academics and researchers) from Sub-Saharan Africa.  They are spread throughout the University’s divisions, departments and schools researching a broad range of subjects ranging from paediatrics in the Medical Sciences division to climate and development at the Smith School.

Dapo Akande
Dapo Akande is University Lecturer in Public International Law & Yamani Fellow at St Peter's College. He is Co-Director of the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict (ELAC), an interdisciplinary research programme based in the Oxford Martin School that aims to strengthen law, norms and institutions to restrain, regulate and prevent armed conflict.

In addition to his academic work, Dapo Akande has advised states, international organizations and others on matters of international law. He has advised and provided expert opinions in cases before national courts and international tribunals. He has acted as Consultant for the African Union on the international criminal court and on the law relating to terrorism. In addition, he has provided training to diplomats, military officers and other government officials on a range of international law issues, especially international criminal law and the law of armed conflict. Akande was born in Nigeria where he studied for his law degree at Obafemi Awolowo University (formerly the University of Ife).

Dr Philippa A Hulley
Dr Hulley is a university lecturer in Musculoskeletal Sciences based in the Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences and a Fellow of St Hilda’s College. Since moving to Oxford, Dr Hulley has been awarded a number of fellowships and research grants including a 5 year Arthritis Research UK Fellowship in 2004 and a 5 year Research Councils UK Fellowship. The research group that she leads explores cell signalling in bone and joint degeneration and regeneration with a focus on tendon biology.

Dr Hulley was born in Zimbabwe and gained her developmental biology PhD at the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

With almost 2000 alumni across Sub-Saharan Africa, Oxford has alumni groups based in Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

A number of key historical political figures in post-independence Africa were educated at Oxford. These include two former presidents and one former prime minister of Ghana:

• Edward Afuko Addo
• John Kufuor
•  Professor Kofi Abrefa Busia 

Nigeria’s most famous Oxford graduate is General Emeka Ojukwa, who led the ill-fated secessionist struggle of Biafra shortly after Nigerian independence.

• Seretse Khama and Festus Mogae, both former presidents of Botswana, spent time studying at Oxford.

Key academic figures include:

• Zimbabwe born Aaron Sloman, a pioneering thinker in the area of artificial intelligence
• Zimbabwean Arthur Mutambara, an Oxford-trained scientist and specialist in robotics. Following an illustrious academic career Mutambara has moved into politics and is the head of one of the two factions of the key opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change.