These Are Africa’s Most Prestigious Universities

Africa is home to many high-quality universites that both challege students and impact the local communites for the better. We’re highlighting just a few schools throughout the continent that are regarded as the continent’s best for education and so much more.

University of Dar es Salaam

The University of Dar es Salaam is considered one of Africa’s leading universities for its STEM-based programs specifically in the areas of chemical, electrical, civil and computer systems engineering.

Located in the heart of Tanzania, the public institution was established in 1970 and enrolls nearly 20,000 students and has a faculty of more than 1,000. The university’s main campus stretches across eight miles of Dar es Sallam and holds four specialist faculties in informatics and virtual education, law, commerce and management, aquatic science and technology. One of the buildings on the university’s campus, the Nkrumah Hall, is displayed on the back of the Tanzanian 500 shilling bill.

Rhodes University

Considered one of the continent’s highly-selective universities, Rhodes University is a public research institution situated in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Over 8,000 students enroll at the school each year, 30% of them being postgraduates and 18% arriving to study from other parts of the world.

Students are invited to study from a wide array of courses including education, humanities and law, and because of the small student population, people who enroll have easy access to faculty and one-on-one guidance.

Each semester, students are given opportunities to involve in community engagements such as volunteerism and service projects that are aligned with their field of study.

RELATED: Expats Share What It’s Really Like to Live and Work in Africa

University of Cape Town

Tucked away in the heart of Cape Town, the University of Cape Town is an inclusive and research-intensive school with state-of-the-art teaching facilities. The African university boasts an enrollment of more than 26,000 students and several hundreds of staff members who come from some of the most renowned academic institutions in the world.

According to QS World University Rankings, UCT is the highest-ranked African university. It is the only African member of the Global University Leaders Forum under the World Economic Forum and is taught in English.

UCT offers more than 20 degrees in programs including economics, organizational psychology and computer science.

University of Ghana

Ranked as one of the top 20 universities in Africa by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings in 2018, the University of Ghana remains to be one of the leading academic intuitions on the continent.

It is the oldest and largest university in Ghana and was founded in 1948 in Accra, nine years before the country gained its independence from British rule.

With nearly 40,000 students matriculating yearly, the school awards degrees at each of its colleges including the School of Physical and Mathematical Studies, Institute of African Studies, School of Law and School of Business, among others. UG is also known to be a popular pick for students who choose to study abroad.

Cairo University

Cairo University, formerly known as Egyptian University and King Fuad I University, is known to be one of the continents most premier public universities enrolling close to 150,000 students in 22 facilities. The university, based in Giza, has graduated three Nobel Peace Prize laureates and is one of the world’s 50 largest higher education institutions in the world.

At CU, students can choose from various degree programs both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The school has faculties and institutions including the Faculty of Medicine, Artificial Intelligence and Pharmacy.

Notable alumni at Cairo University include the late former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and three-time Golden Globe winner Omar Sharif.

Cadi Ayyad University

Established in 1978 in Morocco, Cadi Ayyad University is known for its prominent engineering and scientific research programs, one of which discovered two never-seen-before comets and a NEO (near-Earth object.) It led the university to receive international distinction after an asteroid was named after the university.

The institution has an academic staff of more than 1,000 members, more than 800+ administrative staff and currently enrolls 100,000 students.

CAU operates 13 institutions across four cities including Kalaa of Sraghna, Essaouira, Safi and Marrakesh.

Covenant University

Covenant University is Nigeria’s premier private Christian university and has been listed as one of the country’s leading schools based on several annual rankings. The institution is a member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities.

CU combines cutting edge learning techniques with faith-based teaching practices that give its students a holistic approach to becoming the future leaders of their respective countries.

The Presidential Special Scholarship Scheme for Innovation and Development (PRESSID) named CU as having the highest number of students to pass aptitude examinations in 2013, 2014 and 2015.