The European Union has awarded 89 fully funded Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s scholarships to Nigerian students for the 2026 academic cycle, reaffirming Nigeria’s position as Africa’s leading beneficiary of the prestigious international scholarship programme.
The announcement was made by the European Union Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Gautier Mignot, during the 2026 Erasmus Mundus Pre-Departure Orientation held in Abuja for scholarship recipients preparing to commence postgraduate studies across Europe in a statement on Sunday.
According to Mignot, 163 Nigerian students were admitted into Erasmus Mundus master’s programmes this year, with 89 securing the highly competitive fully funded scholarships, placing Nigeria once again at the top in Africa and among the world’s five leading countries for admissions into the programme.
“This year we have about 163 Nigerian students admitted into these master’s programmes. This places Nigeria again, like in 2024, as the top country in Africa and among the top five globally, together with Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and the United States,” Mignot said.
He noted that the 2026 scholarship awards represent an increase from 81 Nigerian recipients in 2025, adding that the programme is approaching the milestone of 1,000 Nigerian scholarship beneficiaries since the country joined the initiative in 2014.
