FRANCE-NIGERIA: A NEW PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT TO TRAIN NIGERIAN TALENT IN THE FRENCH HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM

Campus France and the French Embassy in Nigeria organised a day of discussion for representatives of Nigerian and French higher education institutions on 18 April 2023 in Paris. The event attracted 97 participants and saw the presence of Kayode I. Laro, Nigerian ambassador in France, Emmanuelle Blatmann French Ambassador in Nigeria, Abubakar Adamu Rasheed, Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Sonny S.T. Echono, Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), and Olajide Adebulehin, General Manager, Strategic Planning & Documentation du Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF).

A new agreement to train Nigerian talents

The Day saw a four-year agreement signed by Sonny S. T. Etchono and Donatienne Hissard, Director-General of Campus France, to put in motion a scholarship programme for Nigerian students wishing to study in France.

A first cohort of 15 scholarship holders will join the French higher education system in September 2023, a number that should keep growing year on year.

The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) is a federal government agency in Nigeria in charge of promoting and developing higher education in Nigeria and implement and fund international mobility programmes for the training of Nigerian students and teachers.

Scholarships will be designed for students who want to join Master and Doctorate study courses in all fields of training, including scientific, technological and engineering training courses. After the selection of laureates by a dedicated commission of the TETFUND, Campus France will steer the mobility programme in cooperation with the French embassy in Nigeria from the departure of students until their setting up in France. To ensure successful studies of scholarship holders, Campus France will also apply a pedagogical follow-up (academic results and follow-up, etc.) until graduation.

Sonny S. T. ECHONO, Executive Secretary TETFUND and Donatienne Hissard, Campus France Director-General during the conclusion of the agreement on 18 April 2023

© Campus France

France more and more attractive for Nigerian students

For several years now, Campus France has developed with Nigeria student exchanges and promotional events attracting a growing number of French institutions. A first scholarship programme created in 2019 with the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) - the Nigerian agency for the training of students in oil industry - led to 150 students studying in France in 2022/23. In the wake of these successes, this new partnership agreement, with a broader scope, is a new cornerstone to support French attractiveness, which is quickly growing in the view of Nigerian students.

The first economic power in Africa, Nigeria is also the most populated country in the continent, with a population of about 220 million inhabitants, with half the population under 15 years old. In 2021/22, France welcomed 1,019 Nigerian students in its higher education system, a number that almost doubled over five years.  A majority of them studies in sciences training courses, mainly at Licence and Master level.

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France is in the radar of Nigerian decisionmakers thanks to the excellent performance of French institutions in world rankings, the multiplication of the training offer in English, and the success of the previous scholarship programmes. Donatienne Hissard, Director-General of Campus France

Although 50% of Nigerian students in mobility programmes go to English-speaking destinations, in particular the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, France achieved strong progress, placing it in the Top 5 of most popular destinations in the European Union for these students.