I was surprised when the list of top 30 universities in Africa
were listed and could you believe no Nigeria university was in the top 30,ummmm
what a shame ,south/Egypt dominated the
list, even the mighty Obafemi awolowo university was left out of the top 30
And it’s here, just released Friday, though only ranking the
top 30 of Africa’s approximately 2,600 higher education institutions.
THE Africa University Ranking
1. University of Cape Town (South Africa)
2. University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa)
3. Makerere University (Uganda)
4. University of Stellenbosch (South Africa)
5. University of KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa)
6. University of Port Harcourt (Nigeria)
7. University of the Western Cape (South Africa)
8. University of Nairobi (Kenya)
9. University of Johannesburg (South Africa)
10. Universite Cadi Ayyad (Morocco)
11. University of Pretoria (South Africa)
12. University of Ghana (Ghana)
13. University of South Africa (South Africa)
14. Suez Canal University (Egypt)
15. Universite Hassan II (Morocco)
16. Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia)
17. Rhodes University (South Africa)
18. University of The Free State (South Africa)
19. North West University (South Africa)
20. University of Tunis (Tunisia)
21. Ecole Nationale d'Ingenieurs de Sfax (Tunisia)
22. Universite Mohammed V - Agdal (Morocco)
23. American University in Cairo (Egypt)
24. Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (South Africa)
25. South Valley University (Egypt)
26. Alexandria University (Egypt)
27. Assiut University (Egypt)
28. University of Sfax (Tunisia)
29. University of Yaounde (Cameroon)
30. Minia University(Egypt)
These results are essentially based on the amount of
citations there are for the university’s work. They are derived from the
methodology for the current world university ranking, using the 13 factors
(below), combining THE’s own enormous database of statistics along with the
Elsevier’s Scopus database - a system that highlights some of the continent’s
top performers in terms of how often research papers are referred to and cited
by other academics globally. This methodology is designed for the research-led
globally facing university. Times Higher Education emphasised that not everyone
in Africa will find the metrics appropriate to their mission or their strategic
priorities making this ranking a starting point of a longer, inclusive
conversation involving African institutions.
One of the big surprises was the omission of several African
universities that have consistently featured high up on global ranking lists.
Namely; Cairo University, University of Ibadan, University of Nigeria and
Al-Azhar University in Egypt.
The other surprise was the appearance of unexpected or
lesser-known institutions, such as the Universite Cadi Ayyad (10), Port
Harcourt (6), the Universite de Sfax in Tunisia (28), Universite Hassan II (15)
and several other institutions from Egypt namely; Suez Canal University (14),
South Valley University and Minia University (30) .
In an interview with M&G Africa, Phil Batty - Editor of
the Times Higher Education World University Rankings - explained that even
though they have spent the last 4-5 years modifying and refining a methodology
that would be better suited to an African, as opposed to a global, ranking -
“there’s still a long way to go”. He said that what THE has “created is a
snapshot of research strength”.
Batty was also candid about the lack of extensive data in
creating this first THE Africa university ranking. That this is “the very start
of the story. [Because] world rankings are driven by research, innovation and
tech development, we need to work with African universities on [indicators such
as] their teaching and graduate success…the rankings we’re publishing are
actually very much the starting point. We want to use this conference to
convince universities to start collecting and sharing data more consistently.”
The build up
The ranking comes at a time when Africa’s universities are
looking to experience a period of revitalisation, with a booming middle class
and concentrated pan-African efforts - such as the Higher Education Summit in
Senegal earlier this year - aimed at addressing their challenges. Yet, African
universities have become lost in global rankings - measured against
institutions in the rich, developed world which continue to dominate the
leagues and without focused efforts that look to finding metrics which are
appropriate to the African context.
One of the key actors in the creation of this Africa ranking
is the University of Johannesburg.
In an interview with M&G Africa, Professor Ihron
Rensburg - the Vice-Chancellor and principal of the University of Johannesburg
- explained that, as part of the University’s 10th anniversary, they engaged
THE to say “we have an apparently shared ambition, first you have a series of
conferences where you create the opportunity for universities to reflect,
[engage in] dialogue and debate on the state of universities in order to ramp
up excellence in teaching and learning and research – we as the University of
Johannesburg – share that driving ambition and that is important for us that
Africa’s universities pursue global excellence and stature in
internationalisation, collaboration, teaching and research.”
He emphasised that the University of Johannesburg
“effectively founded and conceptualised the idea and asked [THE] to do it
jointly – [bringing] together our driving ambition and creating a forum for
African Universities to debate and dialogue.”
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