In a statement, the EU executive notes that “the EU has invested an additional EUR 17.6 million to support over 8,500 newly selected African students and staff to participate in the Erasmus + program in 2019”.

“This increase in Erasmus + funding is another step towards the commitment announced by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker […] to support 35,000 African students and researchers by 2020,” the institution said in the press release.

The money comes from the EU Trust Fund for Africa and increases the participation of African students and staff in this European program by 40% from countries such as Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Cameroon, Ghana, Senegal, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda among others.

From 2014 to this year, the total number of exchanges between Africa and Europe now stands at 26,247, with a target of 35,000 by 2020.

By 2027, the goal is to have 105,000 African participants in Erasmus +.

This year, a total of 8,555 African students and staff and 4,649 European university students will benefit from exchanges in 53 African countries and 34 Erasmus + European countries, Brussels says.

Erasmus + is the European program that supports education, training, youth and sport. It has a budget of EUR 14.7 billion to enable around four million normally young Europeans to study, train or acquire an international experience.

Under this program, student exchanges last up to one year and staff exchanges are up to two months.