Most African academics agree that their universities are poorly served by global university rankings, which tend to emphasise outputs such as publications and citations, or to draw on reputation surveys that favour large research-intensive institutions in the global north.
Could a continent-specific ranking help and, if so, what should it measure? That was the focus of a meeting on 31 August and 1 Septemberб 2026 in South Africa hosted by the University of Cape Town (UCT) and AppliedHE, a Singapore-based higher education ranking organization as ResearchProfessionalNews notes. The meeting ended with an agreement to continue the discussion around how to capture the markers of excellence proposed.
The continent has the fastest-growing population on the planet. Tertiary enrolment in sub-Saharan Africa grew by 62 per cent between 2013 and 2023, almost double the global average. The meeting heard that this expansion needs to continue, as Africa’s population is expected to reach 2.5 billion by 2050, from around 1.6bn today. Half will be under the age of 25 and in need of training and jobs, which the continent’s institutions will be pushed to provide, delegates were told.