Top 10 African Countries with the Highest Number of Universities

Africa is home to numerous tertiary institutions, particularly universities, a handful of which are even ranked among the best in the world. This shouldn’t come as a surprise on a continent of over 1 billion inhabitants. Also, the oldest university in the world is the University of al-Qarawinyyin, founded in 859 and located in Fez, Morocco.

Having the highest number of universities, unfortunately, does not signal quality and better educated citizens. Also, the fact that a country has the highest number of universities compared to others, does not necessary mean that all the universities in the country are quality universities.

As an example, Equatorial Guinea is reputed for having some of most educated people in Africa. Yet, the country only has one university—the National University of Equatorial Guinea. Similarly, South Africa has some of the best universities on the African continent. But the total number of universities in that country is more half of the universities in Nigeria.
That notwithstanding, we should not undermine the importance of higher concentration of universities in some countries. Generally, countries with large population tend to have more universities in order to accommodate the education needs of all its people.EBR

NoCountryNumber of Universities
1Nigeria262
2Tunisia204
3Morocco153
4Kenya129
5South Africa123
6Algeria104
7Ethiopia73
8Egypt70
9Ghana70
10Uganda69

10th Year •June 2022 • No. 108

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