Overview
Let's invite students from Africa!
There are many young Africans who want to study in Japan; unfortunately, the number of African students currently studying in Japan is extremely small. The biggest reason for this is financial problems. With the exception of government-sponsored students, few families in Africa can afford the airfare and accommodation expenses required to study abroad. Even though student exchange agreements have been established between African and Japanese universities, and the system has been in place, in most cases, only Japanese students can take advantage of it.
As part of its activities, African Studies Center at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (ASC-TUFS) also invites young people from Africa. Our goal is to invite students from African universities having student exchange agreements with Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (TUFS) to study at TUFS. This project has been funded by the "Contemporary African Education and Research Fund," which is supported through crowdfunding and funding from companies and individuals. As a human resource exchange program implemented by our university in cooperation with outside parties, this project aims to promote mutual understanding between Japan and Africa, especially through young people.
With the adoption by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of the "Inter-University Exchange Project (Innovative Africa: Educational Networking Programs for Human Resource Development in Africa's SDGs)", aka IAfP, in the 2020 academic year, we can now expect to further facilitate the acceptance of students from Africa.
It is important to interact with young people who will be the future leaders of Africa. At the graduate level, Japan has a proven record of inviting students from the region through government-sponsored study-abroad programs and the ABE Initiative (an initiative focusing on African youths for the development of industries as well as human resources), but there is very little experience in accepting undergraduate students. In addition, TUFS is the only university in Japan that has an undergraduate major in African studies. Considering this, ASC-TUFS is making its own efforts to accept African students, mainly at the undergraduate level.
For more information on the activities of the students we have invited so far, please visit the "International Students" page.
【Contemporary African Education and Research Fund】
To invite students from Africa, ASC-TUFS has established the "Contemporary African Education and Research Fund"; it is part of the "Tokyo University of Foreign Studies 150th Anniversary Fund" but is kept separate from other internal funds and used for students from Africa.
We are accepting donations through crowdfunding, corporate support, as well as direct contributions from individuals. If you are interested in contributing, regardless of the amount, please contact us by e-mail or other means.
The names of individuals and companies that have made significant contributions for supporting international students through ASC-TUFS are listed on this page.
Crowdfunding
As part of this project, ASC-TUFS has conducted a crowdfunding project in two phases to invite students from the Protestant Institute of Arts and Social Sciences (PIASS) in Rwanda. Since PIASS accepts students from other African countries, by targeting this university, we have been able to provide opportunities to young people from several African countries, and not just Rwandans, to study at our university. To date, in addition to Rwandans, we have accepted students from Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Burundi.
◆Crowdfunding records
Phase 1: "Overcoming Conflict: Let's invite international students from a university in Rwanda to Japan!"
Period: April 4 to May 31, 2018
Total amount of donations (target amount): 1,703,000 yen |(1,000,000 yen)
Number of donors：125 people
Phase 2: "Overcoming Conflict: Let's invite international students from a university in Rwanda!"
Period: April 15 to May 31, 2020
Total amount of donations (target amount): 1,425,000 yen (1,000,000 yen)
Number of donors：147 people
Records
Prior to 2018, there were no exchange students from Africa at TUFS, but due in part to ASC-TUFS's efforts, their number is visibly increasing. Some of the exchange students invited by ASC-TUFS returned to their home countries and then enrolled in the graduate program of TUFS as government-sponsored students. We are happy to see that our projects triggered their interest in Japan and encouraged them to return for further studies.
The following are the records of invitations (as of October 2022):
A) Ghana Total 5 students
Round-trip tickets provided by Toyota Ghana
Spring semester 2018: 1 student
Fall semester 2018: 2 students
Fall semester 2019: 2 students
B) Rwanda Total 11 students
Crowdfunded
Fall semester 2018-Spring semester 2019: 2 students
Fall semester 2019-Spring semester 2020: 2 students
Fall semester 2020-Spring semester 2021: 2 students
Spring semester 2022-Fall semester 2022: 2 students
Corporate-funded (Yazaki Corporation)
Fall semester 2022-Spring semester 2023: 3 students
C) South Africa 1 student
Corporate-funded (Yazaki Corporation)
Spring semester 2019: 1 student
D) Zambia 2 students
Corporate-funded (Yazaki Corporation)
Fall semester 2022-Spring semester 2023: 2 students
Total: 19 students