The African Development Institute of the African Development Bank has opened applications for their Next African Global IT Leaders Program with the backing of the Korea-Africa Economic Cooperation (KOAFEC) Knowledge Sharing Programme (KSP). The goal of the program is to create a critical mass of global IT experts across the African continent.
Next African Global IT Leaders also seeks to ” expose mid-career professionals in African countries to the latest techniques and knowledge available through graduate studies at higher educational institutions in Korea.” After completion of their studies, these scholars are then expected to return to their home countries to apply and share their new-found knowledge which is expected to help enhance development in these home countries.
The two-year Master’s degree program Information Technology will provide courses focused on IT Technologies along with Korean business strategies. There will also be opportunities to network with Korean IT industrial companies through classes, seminars, field trips and on-site workshops.
What are the requirements if you’re going to apply for this?
Well, the AfDB blog post describes the student selection process as rigorous and they outline the following requirements;
- A certified Bachelors degree in an IT-related area
- A certificate of English proficiency: TOEFL (iBT 83, PBT 560, CBT 220), IELTS 6.5, TEPS 599, TOEIC 720 or higher). These should have been taken at most two years before the deadline of the application
- A public official, employee of public institutions or senior-level researcher at national research institutes working in IT fields (employees from private companies will not be considered)
- Korean citizens are excluded – this also applies to Korean citizens with dual citizenship.
If you’re interested you can apply for the Next African Global IT Leaders Program here. The application deadline stated by AfDB is 9 April 2019 but the application portal has not yet been updated and will only begin accepting applications on the 19th of March.
