Good News for African Students as MRF Scholarship applications open March 14

The Mandela Rhodes Foundation (MRF) has announced that applications into its scholarship programme for the year 2025 will open on March 14, 2024 and close on April 21, 2024.

According to the MRF, the 2025 scholarship opportunity is targeted at young, emerging leaders from the African continent who must fall within the age of 19 and 29. The applicants must be those that are ever willing to use their skills and qualities to impact Africa positively.

The MRF offers opportunity to young African graduates to study Honours or Masters at a recognised public higher education institution in South Africa. The first-year leadership development programme focuses on acquiring learning related to leadership competencies and the second-year programme, for two-year master’s students, focuses on putting that learning into practice.

Through its impactful postgraduate scholarship and Leadership Development Programme, the MRF plans to produce the next set of graduates that would have been exposed to a life-changing opportunity and experience that will make them leaders of leaders.

To qualify for he Mandela Rhodes Scholarship programme, applicants must be citizens of any African country, and must not be below the age of 19 and above 29 by January 1, 2025. Also, to qualify for the scholarship programme, the would-be beneficiary must have an undergraduate degree with excellent academic results that must not be below 70% or upper-second class Honours. He or she must also have the ability to study at a postgraduate level in English language.

The MRF, founded in 2003, was a brainchild of Rhodes Trust and the late African legend and former South Africa’s President, Nelson Mandela, and has been able to produce great individuals in different spheres of life including CEO of the foundation, Judy Sikuza.

The foundation was borne out of the desire of the late Mandela to create scholarship and leadership development opportunities for young, creative Africans across the continent. So, it was purposely created to build outstanding leadership capacity in Africa by finding, funding and empowering young Africans who desire to maximize their talents to serve their societies and Africa as a continent.

Some of the MFR graduates who have grown to become prominent in their chosen fields are Judy Sikuza who graduated in 2007, and Alex de Voux who was one of the graduates shortlisted for the first scholarship year in 2005.

Judy once worked for Absa (formerly Investec Bank) and has also worked as a development consultant for Reos Partners, a social enterprise that helps governments, companies, and civil society organisations make progress on their most important complex challenges. Judy, who is now the CEO of the MRF, is a non-executive Board Director of Oxford University Press South Africa, and chairs the Board’s transformation and ethics committee.

On the other hand, Alex de Voux, who earned a BSc Honours in Infectious Diseases and Immunology, served as a Senior Epidemiologist for the South African Field Epidemiology Training Programme (SAFETP). Also, she has worked as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Officer at the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

As it is often said, no matter how exciting travels are, one will eventually come back home. In September 2019 Alex de Voux returned to South Africa to complete her doctorate degree, after which she joined the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) in Johannesburg.

When asked to speak about her experience in life so far, Voux  was quoted to have said, “Being selected as an MRF Scholar accelerated my career growth by nurturing leadership and personal management skills. This unique mentorship distinct from academic and research training, proved essential for effective leadership in my career. It enabled me to stay grounded and connected to colleagues, making demanding work enjoyable. I credit the MRF for instilling the value of empathetic leadership, crucial in South Africa’s diverse context, benefiting young aspiring researchers and scholars.”

To apply for scholarship programme, click here or visit MRF website for further information.