Alumni Services

University prepares for Africa Week 2017

Africa Week celebrates the University's engagement across the continent, with events running from 26 October until 1 November.

Africa Week 2017

Events programme

Africa Week provides a forum for students, alumni, staff and the general public to share ideas and best practice.

Historical connections

The University has a long and important historical connection with Africa, from early pioneering graduates to current research and teaching.

The first African to graduate at Edinburgh was James Africanus Beale Horton, who gained a medical degree in 1859.

James Horton was born in Sierra Leone in 1835, the child of freed slaves, and was educated by the Church Missionary Society. In 1855, at the request of the War Office, Horton and two other young men were sent for further medical training at King’s College, London. He then went on to study at Edinburgh.

We now have 2,700 alumni  living across Africa.

The Centre of African Studies

The Centre of African Studies was founded in 1962 and acts as a focal point for postgraduate teaching and supervision on Africa and a hub for research programmes that span all three of the University’s colleges. The Centre also acts as a cultural hub for Africa in Scotland and in the UK and, as well as working with the Scottish Government and local NGOs, supports the highly successful Africa in Motion annual film festival.

Current collaborations

Our collaboration with the MasterCard Foundation represents one of the University's most important partnerships in relation to our engagement with Africa. Over seven years, the Scholars Program will support at least 200 talented African students to complete study at the University of Edinburgh alongside extracurricular training in leadership, entrepreneurship and service to their communities and countries.

More information

If you would like further information, please get in touch with Emily Bateman, Global Alumni Coordinator.

Email Emily Bateman