African universities are usually overlooked while enlisting the best universities worldwide. This is probably due to the fact that Africans are not seen as having as much interest in education as the westerners. However, Africa has been able to boast of a number of good universities, some of which have successfully made it to the list of the best universities worldwide.
Some of these universities are:
University of Cape Town
Founded in 1829, the University of Cape Town, located in Cape Town, South Africa is the oldest university in South Africa. It is also the highest-ranked African university in the OS World University Rankings, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings and the Academic Ranking of World Universities. Its Law and Commerce Faculties are consistently placed among the hundred best internationally. It is the only African member of the Global University Leaders Forum (GULF) within the World Economic Forum, which is made up of 26 of the world’s top universities.
University of the Witwatersrand
Established in 1896, the University of Witwatersrand is the second oldest university in South Africa coming after the University of Cape Town. Some notable alumnus of the university are Aaron Klug who won the Nobel price in chemistry in 1982, Nadine Gordimer who won the 1991 Nobel price in literature, Nelson Mandela (attended but did not graduate) won the Nobel Peace Price, Sydney Brenner who won the 2002 NobelPrize in physiology or medicine, amongst others.
Stellenbosch University
Stellenbosch University, established in 1918 is also one of the first generation universities in South Africa. It designed and manufactured Africa’s first microsatellite, SUNSAT launched in 1999. Some notable Alumnus of the University are Johannes Christiaan de Wet who is a legal scholar and recognized as South Africa’s most influential jurist, Naledi Pandor- South African Minister of Science and Technology, Christo Wiese- businessman, billionaire and chairman of Shoprite(South Africa), Henry Allan Fagan and Lucas Cornelius Steyn who were both ChiefJustices of South Africa, to mention a few.
University of KwaZulu-Natal
It was formed on 1 January 2004 after the merger between the University of Natal and the University of Durban-Westville. The university has a very strong reputation in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and is ranked first in South Africa for physical sciences and engineering, second for computer science, and third for mathematics. As the university has only existed since 2004, very few of its graduates have yet to attain great fame. There are, however, numerous notable alumni of its founding institutions.
Makerere University
The University of Makerere is Uganda’s largest and the third-oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922. Makerere University is alma mater to many post-independence African leaders, including Ugandan president Milton Obote and Tanzanian presidents Julius Nyerere and Benjamin Mkapa. The president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Joseph Kabila, and Kenyan president Mwai Kibaki are also Makerere alumni.
American University in Cairo
The American University in Cairo was established in 1919. AUC is ranked 395th university globally and ranked 1st in Egypt by QS World University Rankings 2018, Ten AUC graduate programs were ranked among the top in Africa and best 200 worldwide in Eduniversal’s Best Master’s Rankings for 2015 – 2016. Also, AUC placed 81 out of 407 institutions worldwide in the Universitas Indonesia (UI) GreenMetric World University Ranking for 2015 – 2016