The IMU – Simons African Fellowship Program supported research sabbaticals for mathematicians from African developing countries employed in Africa to travel to an internationally known mathematical center of excellence (worldwide) for collaborative research. All travel and living expenses of the grantees were covered by the fellowship up to 5,000 USD.

This program has been fully funded between 2017 and 2023 by the Simons Foundation, NY, USA, a private foundation based in New York City, incorporated in 1994 by Jim and Marilyn Simons.

The Simons Foundation’s mission is to advance the frontiers of research in mathematics and the basic sciences. They sponsor a range of programs in the sciences, including grants programs in mathematics and the physical sciences. The primary focus of the foundation’s Mathematics and Physical Sciences division is the theoretical sciences radiating from mathematics: in particular, the fields of mathematics, theoretical computer science and theoretical physics.