Makerere University has been ranked 8th in the latest Times Higher Education Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) University Rankings.
The University of Johannesburg has overtaken the University of the Witwatersrand to become the new South African leader and overall number one in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Johannesburg rises from second place last year and achieves an overall score above 80, the only institution in the ranking to do so. Meanwhile, Wits moves down to third. The University of Pretoria is second, meaning that South Africa takes all of the top three places.
The average overall score for the 10 South African universities ranked is 65 out of 100, the highest in the region among countries with at least 10 ranked institutions (which also includes Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and Somalia).
The SSA Rankings assesses universities on their teaching, research and impact. In its second year, the methodology has been updated to enable better comparison of universities. The metrics are grouped into five pillars: resources and finance; access and fairness; student engagement; ethical leadership (which is new); and Africa impact.
Top 10 universities in sub-Saharan Africa
| Rank | University | Country/region |
| 1 | University of Johannesburg | South Africa |
| 2 | University of Pretoria | South Africa |
| 3 | University of the Witwatersrand | South Africa |
| 4 | UGHE – University of Global Health Equity | Rwanda |
| 5 | University of Ghana | Ghana |
| 6 | University of Rwanda | Rwanda |
| 7 | SIMAD University | Somalia |
| 8 | Makerere University | Uganda |
| 9 | Ashesi University | Ghana |
| 10 | University of KwaZulu-Natal | South Africa |
The country with the second-highest overall score is Ghana, with an average of 57 based on 11 institutions. Ghana has two universities in the top 10, up from one last year: The University of Ghana has risen from 17th to 5th place and Ashesi University has maintained its position at number nine. Ghanaian universities are strong in ethical leadership, achieving the highest average score for this pillar among countries with at least 10 ranked institutions.
Although Kenya does not have an institution in the top 10, it has the third-highest average overall score of 54, based on 15 universities ranked. The highest ranked institution is the University of Embu at 16th.
Kenyan universities score especially well for the quality of their courses, based on student feedback, but they do not score well for the access and fairness metrics. They also have room for improvement when it comes to the percentage of first-generation and low-income students.
Nigeria is the best-represented nation, with 41 universities ranked and an average overall score of 51. Nigeria has 13 universities in the top 50, with the American University of Nigeria the highest-ranked at number 12.
The country’s universities score well for ethical leadership as well as student engagement; students rate the quality of teaching and curriculums. However, they have the lowest average scores (of countries with 10 or more institutions ranked) for the percentage of first-generation and low-income students.
Teboho Moja, professor of higher education at New York University, said that there had been “more deliberate efforts” to support flagship universities in Kenya and Ghana than elsewhere in the region, which is why they were improving. However, she added that the region’s universities faced several challenges that extended beyond funding.
“An ageing professoriate, as well as high demand for higher education, leads to institutions admitting more students, but this is not matched by the level of funding they receive. As a result, quality is impacted and research production is challenged as lecturers have to teach big classes and have very demanding teaching schedules that leave no time for research production,” she said.