This Inclusive and Engaged Research-Intensive Institution Is the Best University in Africa

The list of the best universities in Africa is out. According to the latest ranking by Webometrics, the top five institutions in the continent come from one country. Additionally, this country dominates the list of the top ten with only two other countries being represented.

University of Cape Town (UCT) in South Africa scoops the first position according to the results published. UCT beat four other universities in the country to scoop this coveted academic recognition. This is because the University of the Witwatersrand, University of Pretoria, Stellenbothe sch University, and the University of Kwazulu Natal scooped the second, third, fourth and fifth positions respectively.

“UCT is an inclusive and engaged research-intensive African university that inspires creativity through outstanding achievements in learning, discovery and citizenship”, UCT says on its website.

Cairo University in Egypt came in sixth best on the continent.  Coming next in seventh position was University of Johannesburg and University of the Western Cape in eighth position. The University of Nairobi in Kenya came in the ninth position. In order to sum up the 10 top institutions of higher learning in Africa, South Africa did it again with University of South Africa.

Best University in Africa in Reverse Listing

Proudly coming in last on the continent’s list, Alsalam University in South Sudan is only doing its 10^th year in the academic scene. With only 161 members of academic staff, ten faculties and six centers, the university has done its best to avoid the last position in the world. It is no wonder Alsalam University boasts of the best and most proactive center for peace studies and development in the Eastern Africa region. Despite coming last, the institution is still the best university in Africa in its own sense. It is notable that Alsalam was position 1682 in Africa, and 28162 in the world.

Best University in Africa Listing Methodology

Webometrics is credible because it is the largest academic ranking of institutions of higher learning in the world. Since 2004, Cybermetrics Lab (Spanish National Research Council, CSIC), has been examining web presence and impact of all universities every six months. This is through a free, independent, impartial and scientific link analysis exercise. The exercise is done to provide dependable, multidimensional, rationalized and useful data about the performances of institutions of higher learning in the world based on web presence and impact. Being the best institution in Africa or the world is therefore not a simple feat.

“Webometrics uses link analysis for quality evaluation as it is a far more powerful tool than citation analysis or global surveys. … Links not only includes bibliographic citations but also third party’s involvement with university activities,” the organization posits.

Top 10 Best University in Africa List

Harvard University was the best in the world. Stanford University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology came second and third respectively. University of Oxford in UK came fourth in order to break the American dominance. It also became the only non-US university in the World’s top 10.

In order to understand Africa’s position, the best university in Africa managed position 272 in the world. Here is the list of the 10 best universities in Africa according to Ranking Web of Universities (2019 Webometrics ranking);

South Africa and Egypt gave the first five top institutions in their respective regions while Kenya joined them in the top ten list. Again, South Africa produced 11 institutions in the top 20, in order to cement its dominance in the higher education arena. Egypt had five while Kenya, Uganda (with Makerere University), Nigeria (with University of Ibadan) and Ghana (with University of Ghana) had one each.