Denmark Wants More Students From Africa

The Danish government will soon introduce a new strategy to attract more African students to Denmark's universities and colleges.

Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen told Politiken, the Danish daily newspaper, that the foreign ministry is set to present the new “Africa strategy” by the end of this month, with the policy being the main element in this initiative.

“This isn’t altruism or charity. For me, this is about protecting some key Danish interests. Europe is shrinking in terms of population size and our relative share of the global economy. We therefore also risk losing influence,” he told the newspaper.

Rasmussen did not say how many African students are planned to be accepted in Denmark but mentioned that the move aims to increase efforts in this area. Nonetheless, he also explained that Denmark does not have the capacity to welcome millions of young African students.

Data show there were 25,366 international students enrolled at institutions in Denmark, down from 29,718 in the previous academic year. The majority of international students in the country hail from Germany. In 2022, nearly 3,000 German students studied in Denmark.

Last year, the Danish Parliament increased the number of English-taught programs at the country’s universities. The change will take effect in the upcoming years.

The number of English-language master’s programs is expected to increase by 1,100 between 2024 and 2028 and by an overall 2,500 from 2029.

Each international graduate in Denmark contributes more than DKK 2 million ($282,312) on average to the Danish economy 13 years after their graduation, according to a report by the Danish Society of Engineers (IDA).

Official data show that one in three international students pursuing master’s degrees stays in Denmark ten years after starting their studies in the country.

“Observations over several years show that international students who still live in Denmark ten years after entering their studies have an employment frequency of 80 percent,” the Ministry of Higher Education and Science said in a fact sheet.

The need for more African students has been reported in Italy as well. Speaking at a conference, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he thinks the number of students from Africa studying at Italian universities should be increased.

According to data, the majority of international students who choose to study in Italy are from European countries, with Romania leading the pack, followed by Albania. Africans are the third most represented group of international students in Italy.

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