Senegal, along with Ghana and Nigeria, was among the pilot IFP programs that started in November 2000 and selected its first cohort of Fellows in 2001. The Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program in West Africa was coordinated by the Association of African Universities, with its headquarters in Accra, Ghana. In Senegal, AAU worked in collaboration with the West African Research Center (WARC) and selected 93 Fellows from Senegal. Fellows selected from the West Africa went to study in Britain, Canada, France, Switzerland, South Africa, The Netherlands and the United States of America. A few chose to study in their home countries such as Ghana and Senegal. AAU is also coordinating the IFP Alumni activities in West Africa.

The IFP office in Senegal was closed in June 2013, with 3.75 linear feet of paper records arriving to the archives in May 2013, and 620 MB of digital materials - in June 2013. The archived documents include administrative program files, fellow files, publicity materials and audiovisual materials, and the program website. 79 Fellows from Senegal consented to provide researchers with access to their files. The materials are in English.