Most African academics agree that their universities are poorly served by global university rankings, which tend to emphasize outputs such as publications and citations or rely on reputation surveys that favor large, research-intensive institutions in the Global North.

Could a continent-specific ranking help, and if so, what should it measure? This was the central theme of a meeting held in South Africa on August 31 and September 1, 2026, organized by the University of Cape Town (UCT) and AppliedHE, a Singapore-based higher education ranking organization, as reported by Research Professional News. The meeting concluded with an agreement to continue discussions on how to capture the proposed indicators of excellence.

The continent has the fastest-growing population in the world. The number of students enrolled in higher education institutions across sub-Saharan Africa increased by 62% between 2013 and 2023, nearly twice the global average. The meeting heard that this expansion is expected to continue, with Africa's population projected to reach 2.5 billion by 2050, compared with approximately 1.6 billion today. Half of the population will be under the age of 25 and will require education and employment opportunities that, delegates were told, the continent's institutions will need to provide.

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