GNPC Foundation scholarships

The GNPC Foundation runs one of Ghana’s most important scholarship programmes for STEM and fields connected to oil and gas. It pays for undergraduate study in Ghana, postgraduate study at home and abroad, and a smaller number of professional certifications. Awards are large by the standards of other Ghanaian schemes, and the list of eligible fields is wider than many applicants assume.

About the Foundation

GNPC is the state-owned company that manages Ghana’s interests in the petroleum sector. The GNPC Foundation is its social investment arm, and it puts part of the petroleum revenue into education, health and small-business programmes, with the emphasis on skills the petroleum sector and the wider economy will need.

Scholarships are the Foundation’s biggest programme. Its selection priorities are stated openly: students from oil-producing communities (the Western Region and neighbouring districts), fields relevant to STEM and oil and gas, and candidates likely to come back and work in Ghana after their studies.

The streams and what they pay

Each stream has its own eligibility and award size. The figures below are recent norms; check them against the current cycle’s circular before relying on them.

Stream	Typical entry bar	What the award has included
Local undergraduate, at accredited Ghanaian public universities	Aggregate 12 or better in the WASSCE, with credits in mathematics, English and integrated science	Full tuition, a book and materials allowance each semester and a modest accommodation allowance for students on campus; renewable each year
Local postgraduate, Master’s at Ghanaian universities	First-class or strong upper-division Bachelor’s	Full tuition, a monthly stipend and an allowance towards research and thesis costs
Overseas postgraduate, Master’s and PhD abroad in priority fields, full or partial	As above, plus an unconditional offer from a highly ranked university abroad, English proficiency where the host requires it, and two academic references	Full award: tuition, a monthly living allowance set by host country, a return air ticket from Ghana, a settling-in allowance and a yearly allowance for books and conferences
Industry-relevant professional certifications and short courses, such as project management or petroleum engineering specialisms	See the cycle’s circular	Smaller awards

Taken together, the parts of the local undergraduate award cover a large part of the cost of study. The full overseas postgraduate award is one of the more generous packages open to a Ghanaian student, and that stream attracts the most attention and the most competition.

Priority fields

A list of priority fields is published with each cycle. It changes a little from year to year, but has consistently included:

• petroleum, reservoir and drilling engineering
• geology, geophysics and petroleum geoscience
• chemical and process engineering
• mechanical, electrical, civil and structural engineering
• environmental science and management
• marine science and oceanography
• economics with a focus on energy or natural resources
• law with a focus on energy, the environment or natural resources

The Foundation has also funded students in mathematics, computer science, public health and other neighbouring subjects where the candidate made a convincing case that the work was relevant. The bar for subjects outside the list is much higher.

Eligibility

Across all streams you need Ghanaian citizenship and a Ghana Card, an admission letter or proof of enrolment at the host institution, and a written undertaking to return to Ghana after your studies, backed up by the career plan in your application. The academic bar for each level is in the table above.

The Foundation gives explicit priority to students from the Western Region and other oil-producing communities, first-generation tertiary students with documented financial need, women in engineering and the geosciences (some cycles have had dedicated streams for women in STEM), and persons with disabilities studying eligible subjects.

Timing

The main cycle runs once a year, with applications usually open between August and October. Broadly:

Stream	Typical opening	Typical decision
Local undergraduate	August to September	December to January
Local postgraduate	August to October	January to February
Overseas postgraduate	September to November	February to April

Notices appear on the Foundation’s website at gnpcfoundation.com and the parent GNPC site, in the Daily Graphic and Ghanaian Times from around August, and on the Foundation’s official social media accounts. District assemblies in the Western Region often receive the notice directly as well. The window is usually four to six weeks from the announcement, and extensions are not normally given.

How selection works

The Foundation does not publish acceptance figures. Judging by the awards announced each year, a well-prepared applicant has a fair chance in the local undergraduate stream, the local postgraduate stream is harder, and the overseas postgraduate stream is very difficult. Successful overseas candidates usually have a first-class degree, some research or work experience, and an offer from a leading university in their field.

Applying

1. Document any priority status

If you come from the Western Region or another oil-producing district, collect proof, such as school records from your home district. Priority status makes a real difference, and the Foundation expects documents to support it. If you do not qualify on regional grounds, do not claim to.

2. Prepare your documents before the portal opens

• Ghana Card
• academic transcripts and certificates
• WASSCE results slip (undergraduate applicants)
• admission letter, or student ID for continuing students
• two reference letters, ideally one academic and one from a community or professional referee
• for postgraduate applicants, an unconditional offer letter and a research proposal or statement of purpose
• for overseas applicants, TOEFL or IELTS results if the host university requires them

3. Complete the online application

Applications go through the Foundation’s online portal. In past cycles it has asked you to state your priority field, your home district and your plans after study, alongside the usual personal details and uploads.

4. Write the statement of purpose

The panel reads a large number of these, and a statement that could have been sent to any scholarship does badly. The better ones name a specific problem in Ghana the applicant wants to work on, explain why the chosen programme is the right preparation for it, and say what the applicant will do in Ghana afterwards, naming organisations, regions and roles where possible. Stock phrases about “contributing to national development” add nothing.

The excerpt below is illustrative: the applicant and details are invented.

1. 1A specific problem, in a specific place: a Western Region home district also supports priority status, if it can be documented.
2. 2Evidence: what the applicant has already done, in plain terms.
3. 3Why this programme: the gap it fills, linked to a priority field.
4. 4A plan in Ghana: kinds of organisation, a region and a role. This is also what the return commitment will hold you to.

Our guide to writing a strong motivation letter covers this in more depth.

5. Submit early and prepare for the interview

Submit several days before the deadline. Shortlisted candidates are usually interviewed by a panel. Local-stream interviews take place at the Foundation’s offices or by video; overseas-stream interviews can be more demanding and may include a technical panel for engineering applicants. The interview preparation sheet helps you rehearse.

6. The return commitment

Unsuccessful applicants can apply again in a later cycle.

Further information

• Official site: gnpcfoundation.com
• GNPC corporate site: gnpcghana.com, whose news page sometimes carries scholarship notices
• Ministry of Education scholarship circulars, which sometimes refer to the GNPC stream
• Past awardees, who are a useful informal source of advice on the application