Browsing: African Universities

African universities are behind the curve. Of the 500 leading global universities, only two – both in South Africa – make the list.

What is the issue? The Ugandan intellectual, Mamdhani, argues that African universities, established at independence have become symbolic and emblematic must-haves much like a flag. Others argue that a social reproduction function limits access to higher education so elites beget elites who with good tertiary and professional education, many accessing universities in developed countries, maintain power dynamics and status quo in societies.

The debate of what a university is and what is its function is very old. Indeed, universities are one of the oldest institutions of human civilisations tracing their history back to ancient kingdoms including in Africa. The famous al-Azhar University in Egypt and as-Sadiqiyya in Tunisia are over 1,000 years old. They like the universities of Oxford and Cambridge in England, Sorbonne in France, and …