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The Libyan Attorney General's office has ordered the arrest of officials from the Ministry of Higher Education’s scholarships office in Türkiye, accused of misappropriating scholarships worth about €14 million (US$15 million) for Libyan students. The investigation revealed irregularities impacting 757 students studying in Türkiye due to violations such as delays in studies, exceeding degree time limits, and awarding grants to officials' children who already received education benefits. The Prime Minister suspended scholarships abroad and removed the Minister's authority over scholarship approvals.

Students protested in front of the Mauritanian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research for concerns over transparency in awarding foreign scholarships. A wide range of medical and baccalaureate students were excluded while 90 out of 200 scholarships offered by the Moroccan Agency for International Cooperation have been retained. The lack of transparency in scholarship distribution aligns with broader corruption problems seen in African higher education systems, including nepotism and favoritism.

Chung Chou University of Science and Technology (CCUT) has been forcing students from Uganda to work in factories for long hours to pay off debts they incurred since they did not receive the promised scholarships. The university had been under observation for quality issues since 2015 so this new element persuaded the advisory commission on private schools to ask the Ministry of Education for tougher sanctions against CCUT which is no longer allowed to recruit any new students, whether foreign or domestic.

A former Executive secretary of the Lagos State Scholarship Board has been charged with 8 counts of criminal conversion of N127 million belonging to the scholarship board. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s report revealed that the funds meant for students’ scholarship payments, staff welfare and office renovation had been used for personal purposes.

The Commissioner for Education, Science and Culture says there are three major kinds of corruption in the West Africa’s educational system: manipulation of girls, favouritism when it comes to admission into higher institutions and sex for marks. Young girls often fall prey to teachers, among others “who make the education sector the worst hit by corruption. A scholarship programme has been put in place in order to protect these young girls and strengthen the educational terrain.

Academics, student unions and opposition parties have condemned the creation by Zimbabwean President of a new ministry – of National Scholarships – against the backdrop of the country’s ongoing economic woes. The appointment of a fully-fledged ministry will pave the way for budgetary allocations in the 2018 budget expected to be tabled in parliament before the end of the year. Critics have said that said the ministry of scholarships was not necessary and that the creation of a new ministry was an attempt by the president and his party ZANU-PF to create “new jobs for the boys”.

The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs last week interviewed three agencies that recruit and offer scholarships to local students to study abroad. The meeting came in the wake of revelations that a number of Zimbabwean locals have been falling prey to dubious agencies based in Harare who offer fake university scholarships to study in Cyprus with most students ending up stranded in the island country. Many of these students end up being forced into crime and prostitution in order to survive and pay for their tuition. The Zimbabwean Government is currently seeking the release and extradition of three Zimbabwean students who are held in prison in Cyprus for drug trafficking.