The 2023 Times Higher Education (THE) University Ranking spotlighted over 110 institutions across all regions in Sub-Saharan Africa. The ranking used a hybrid methodology that covered five key pillars: resources and finance; access and fairness; teaching skills; student engagement; and African impact.
“The Times Higher Education Sub-Saharan Africa University Rankings have been developed specifically to assess the impact of universities in addressing some of the toughest challenges faced in the region. We use carefully calibrated indicators to provide comprehensive and balanced comparisons across three vital areas: teaching, research, and societal impact,” THE stated.
The data collected for this ranking includes data provided directly by universities, data collected from current students, and data supplied by Elsevier (bibliometrics data). The student survey is the first in sub-Saharan Africa, collecting the opinions of more than 20,000 students from 88 institutions.
“The development work for the ranking was undertaken in consultation with university leaders across sub-Saharan Africa, in a project initiated by a consortium of African and international higher education organizations and companies, which include Botho, Maverick, and Mycos. The project was led by Ashesi University in Ghana, in partnership with the MasterCard Foundation. THE independently managed all data collection and calculations,” THE added.
The University of the Witwatersrand led the ranking, followed by the University of Johannesburg, and Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences in Tanzania.
South Africa has the most institutions in the top 10 (four); Nigeria is the most-represented nation overall, with 37 ranked institutions led by Covenant University in seventh place. Universities in Uganda, Rwanda, and Ghana also made the top 10.
About two-thirds of participating universities are public institutions; a quarter are private, not-for-profit organizations; and about a tenth are private, for-profit organizations.
Below are the 30 highest-ranked Universities in Africa:
1. University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
2. University of Johannesburg, South Africa
3. Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Tanzania
4. University of Pretoria South, Africa
5. Makerere University, Uganda
6. University of the Western Cape, South Africa
7. Covenant University, Nigeria
8. UGHE – University of Global Health Equity, Rwanda
9. Ashesi University, Ghana
10. Ardhi University, Tanzania
11. University of Venda, South Africa
12. University of South Africa
13. Durban University of Technology, South Africa
14. University of Zambia
15. Academic City University College, Ghana
16. University of Embu, Kenya
17. University of Ghana
18. University of Zimbabwe
19. University of Mauritius
20. Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST)
*21. University of Botswana
*21. University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
23. University of Sierra Leone
24. National University of Science and Technology (NUST), Zimbabwe
25. Rongo University, Kenya
26. Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria
27. Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Mozambique
28. Accra Technical University, Ghana
29. Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST)
30. Benson Idahosa University, Nigeria
