A landmark opportunity for university rankings in Africa

Dear colleagues and students

Global rankings provide comparative benchmarks that reflect institutional visibility, performance and to some extent accountability. However, many of these ranking systems do not always fully reflect the diversity of missions, priorities and contributions that characterise higher education in Africa.

This is not an African challenge alone. Around the world, universities are reconsidering how excellence should be measured in an era where societal impact, sustainability, innovation, graduate outcomes and public value are becoming equally important indicators of success.

Africa has an opportunity not only to participate in this global conversation, but to help shape it.

A new chapter for African higher education: an All-Africa rankings era

I am pleased to announce that the University of Cape Town (UCT) has partnered with Applied Higher Education (AppliedHE) to launch the All-Africa Rankings Initiative - a long-term continental effort to co-create an African-informed framework for recognising excellence across public and private higher education institutions.

This All-Africa Rankings Initiative does not begin with rankings; it begins with listening, collaboration and co-creation. It starts with a fundamental question: What should excellence in African fourth-generation universities look like in the 21st century?

The answer cannot be determined by any one institution or country. It must be shaped collectively by university leaders, governments, industry, policymakers, researchers and communities from across the continent.

I invite universities and stakeholders from across Africa to contribute to this important conversation. The inaugural All-Africa Higher Education Xchange, to be co-hosted from 31 August to 1 September 2026, will mark the first step in this journey.

• Read more about the All-Africa Higher Education Xchange.

Collective wisdom, credibility and co-creation

The credibility and long-term value of the All-Africa Rankings Initiative will depend on broad participation. No single university, organisation or country can define what excellence should look like. Its strength will come from the collective wisdom, experiences and leadership of universities working together to shape a shared vision for the future.

At the heart of the initiative is a co-creation process through which participants will help shape its future direction through dialogue, shared learning and collaborative design. These conversations will inform the next phase of consultation and methodology development.

Together, we will explore how excellence might be recognised through measures that reflect African priorities, including innovation and entrepreneurship, graduate employability, societal and economic impact, contributions to public policy, digital transformation and artificial intelligence, transformation and inclusion, international and African partnerships, and the preservation and advancement of African knowledge systems.

Our objective is not simply to determine who ranks first. It is to ask a far more important question: what kind of university does Africa need for tomorrow, and how do we measure what matters most?

This initiative is not about replacing existing rankings, nor is it about creating different standards for Africa. Rather, it is about helping shape globally benchmarked measures that are also contextually relevant, while ensuring African perspectives contribute meaningfully to the future evolution of higher education worldwide.

We believe that the universities with the greatest impact in the decades ahead will be those that combine academic excellence with societal relevance; global engagement with local responsiveness; innovation with inclusion; entrepreneurial thinking with sustainable development; and knowledge creation with human flourishing.

Together, we can help define how African universities are recognised, measured and celebrated, and, in doing so, write the next chapter of African higher education.

Sincerely

Professor Mosa Moshabela
Vice-Chancellor

Read previous communications:

• From the UCT Executive
• Campus Announcements