Airtel-Africa Fellowship Programme at IIT Madras Zanzibar

The Airtel Africa Foundation announced the launch of Airtel Africa Fellowship programme for undergraduate students on September 10,2024. The fellowship is for the students at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras Zanzibar. With the initial outlay of around Rs 4crore, the programme will benefit 10 undergraduate students for the time span of four years.

It is created to support the undergrad students from the 14 African countries. Which are namely Nigeria, Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, Zambia, Tanzania, Rwanda, DRC, Niger, Chad, Congo B, Gabon, Madagascar and Seychelles.

For being eligible for the scholarship, a student must clear the admission procedure at IITM Zanzibar. All the admitted candidates from the mentioned African countries with a requirement of financial assistance will be taken in consideration for the Airtel Scholarships, and among those the most deserving will be awarded.

The purpose of this fellowship is to support deserving students from different socio-economic backgrounds who are enrolled in the Bachelor of Science in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Data Science at the IITM situated in Zanzibar. The programme is undertaken to increase educational opportunities for students, more specifically from the disadvantaged backgrounds enrolled in the institute.

The recipients of the scholarship will be called as the Airtel Africa Fellows and will also receive 100 per cent of their college fees. Which is approximately Rs 10 lakh as per the course fee structure of a four-year programme.

Moreover, the fellowship will also cover the living expense cost. It will be around forty-one thousand rupees. It will be given to all the eligible students. The main goal is to aspire to transform, to shape lives and build future leaders. The leaders who contribute to the technological innovation and economic growth of Africa as stated by the press release.

The first global campus of IIT Madras was inaugurated last year, in 2023. Also, it is the first IIT to be a female-led IIT the Director-in-Charge of IIT Madras Zanzibar, Preeti Aghalayam, has taken charge of the first global IIT.