African School of Economics (ASE) Merit Scholarship
A merit-based scholarship automatically considered for every applicant to the African School of Economics' graduate programs at its founding campus in Abomey-Calavi, Benin, covering part of tuition for outstanding candidates in economics, statistics, business, and public policy.
Quick Facts
Status
Applications OpenFunding
Partial FundingDeadline
Rolling / varies by program and intake — check the official ASE admissions portal for the current cycle
Country
BeninAbout the African School of Economics (ASE) Merit Scholarship
The African School of Economics (ASE) is a Pan-African graduate institution founded in 2014 and headquartered in Abomey-Calavi, near Cotonou, in the Republic of Benin. It was built to produce rigorous, research-trained economists, statisticians, and policy professionals for Africa, with a faculty drawn substantially from North American and European universities and a curriculum modeled closely on the first years of a doctoral program in economics. Benin remains ASE's founding and flagship campus, alongside newer campuses the network has since opened in Nigeria, Côte d'Ivoire, Zanzibar, and Angola.
ASE does not run a separate, freestanding scholarship application. Instead, every applicant to its graduate programs is automatically screened for a merit scholarship as part of the standard admissions review — there is no extra form, essay, or nomination process to opt in. Awards are allocated based on the strength of an applicant's academic record, quantitative preparation, and admissions test performance, and they reduce the tuition a student is billed rather than covering it in full, so the exact percentage awarded varies case by case and is communicated in the admission decision letter.
At the graduate level, the Benin campus offers a Master in Mathematics, Economics and Statistics (MMES) — a research-track program whose first two years mirror a North American PhD sequence and which is aimed at applicants with a strong undergraduate background in mathematics, statistics, or econometrics — alongside a Master in Business Administration (MBA), a Master in Development Studies/Development Economics (MDS/MDE), a Master in Public Administration (MPA), and a PhD program in Economics for students who complete the MMES track or arrive with equivalent preparation.
The school has historically drawn a genuinely international cohort — past enrollment reports cite students arriving from more than a dozen countries across Africa and beyond — and instruction is conducted in English on the Benin campus, which lowers the barrier for applicants who do not speak French, unlike most other higher-education options in Benin. This, combined with the automatic scholarship screening, makes ASE one of the few realistic routes for a Pakistani or other international student to study in Benin at the graduate level without needing to already speak French or secure outside funding to cover full tuition.
Because ASE does not publish a fixed public scholarship schedule with guaranteed amounts, applicants should treat the merit award as a meaningful tuition discount to plan around rather than a guaranteed full-ride, and should budget for the portion of tuition, visa costs, and living expenses in Benin that the scholarship will not cover.
Eligible Levels
Eligible Fields
Why Choose This Scholarship?
One of the very few graduate-level, English-medium study options in Francophone Benin, removing the French-language barrier most other Beninese institutions require
Automatic scholarship screening means no extra application burden to be considered for reduced tuition
Research-oriented, doctoral-style curriculum (especially MMES) gives a strong springboard into PhD programs abroad — ASE publicises alumni who have gone on to funded PhD placements at institutions like the University of Houston
Genuinely pan-African, international student body and faculty drawn from leading North American and European universities
Lower overall cost of living in Benin compared to studying in Europe, North America, or the Gulf, even without full-tuition funding
What the Scholarship Covers
Studying in Benin
Benin is a small, politically stable, Francophone West African country on the Gulf of Guinea. Its higher-education system is overwhelmingly French-medium and centered on the University of Abomey-Calavi, the country's largest public university, which is open to international students but requires French proficiency for nearly all programs. The African School of Economics is a notable exception as an English-medium graduate institution. Cost of living in Benin is low by international standards, and the country is generally safe for international students, though infrastructure and support services for non-Francophone foreigners are more limited than in larger regional hubs like Ghana or Nigeria.
Eligibility Requirements
5 requirements
Documents Checklist
8 documents required
How to Apply - Step by Step
Step 1: Review the graduate program pages on the official ASE website (africanschoolofeconomics.com) to identify the program that matches your background (MMES, MBA, MDS/MDE, MPA, or PhD in Economics).
Step 2: Prepare transcripts, test scores, recommendation letters, and a statement of purpose well ahead of the relevant intake deadline for your chosen program.
Step 3: Submit the online application through the ASE admissions portal; no separate scholarship form is needed, as merit scholarship consideration is automatic.
Step 4: Respond promptly to any request for an admissions interview or additional documentation from the ASE admissions office.
Step 5: Review the admission offer letter carefully, which will state whether a merit scholarship was awarded and what portion of tuition it covers.
Step 6: On acceptance, begin visa and travel arrangements for Benin, and confirm any remaining tuition balance and payment deadlines with the admissions office.
Application Timeline
Varies by program
Program pages and application portal open
Check the official ASE website for the current academic year's intake schedule
Rolling / program-specific deadline
Application submission
Merit scholarship consideration happens automatically at this stage
Several weeks after a complete application is submitted
Admissions decision and scholarship notification
Ahead of the academic year start
Enrollment and visa processing
Insider Tips & Pro Tips
Apply as early as possible in the relevant cycle — merit scholarship allocation is tied to the strength of your file relative to other applicants in that intake, and stronger early files are reviewed against a larger remaining pool of funds.
For the MMES track especially, make sure your transcripts clearly show advanced mathematics or statistics coursework, since the program is explicitly quantitative and modeled on the first years of a North American economics PhD.
Contact admissions@africanschoolofeconomics.com directly to confirm the current tuition figure and the realistic scholarship range for your program, since these are not always published in full on the public website.
Ask specifically whether accommodation and living costs in Abomey-Calavi/Cotonou are covered separately, since the merit scholarship is a tuition discount and not necessarily a full cost-of-living package.
If you are aiming for the PhD in Economics, ask whether you are expected to complete the MMES first or whether direct PhD entry is possible with your existing degree, as this affects both timeline and funding.
Keep a French-language option in your back pocket (e.g. a short prep course) even though instruction is in English, since daily life and some administrative processes in Benin are conducted in French.
Important Links & Contacts
🔗 Official Links
Frequently Asked Questions
5 questions - click any to expand
No. Every applicant to an ASE graduate program is automatically considered for a merit scholarship as part of the standard admission review — there is no separate scholarship form.
No. It is a merit-based partial tuition discount whose exact percentage depends on the strength of your academic file; it is not a guaranteed full-ride and does not automatically cover living costs.
No. ASE's graduate programs on the Benin campus are taught in English, which is unusual for Benin's largely Francophone higher-education system, though everyday life in the country is conducted in French.
Yes. ASE has no nationality restriction, and its student body has historically included students from many countries beyond Africa; applicants should apply directly through the official ASE admissions portal.
The Benin campus offers a Master in Mathematics, Economics and Statistics (MMES), a Master in Business Administration (MBA), a Master in Development Studies/Development Economics, a Master in Public Administration (MPA), and a PhD in Economics.
Ready to Apply?
Head to the official portal and start your application today.
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