By Ihron Rensburg. What will be Global Africa’s unique contribution to the creation of a new, different, inclusive, caring, decolonised future as it, Global Africa, rises, carefully and unsteadily, to leadership of the world over the course of the next three generations, and as, concomitantly, Chinese leadership rises and then recedes. More...

By Paul Zeleza. In September 2018, the Kenyan government proposed budget cuts targeting university education and vocational and technical training. The 2018 finance bill cut a total of KES2.37 billion (US$23 million) for university education (KES1.07 billion) and vocational and technical training (KES1.3 billion) from their proposed budgets that will be implemented in the 2018-19 financial year. More...

By Kudzai Mashininga. Forty-four universities in 12 West and Central African countries have been conditionally selected as centres of excellence under a US$300 million World Bank and French Development Agency-funded project aimed at scaling up postgraduate education and applied research. More...

By Christabel Ligami. Cash-strapped Kenyan students are turning to sports betting instead of relying on loans or parental support, often with negative consequences for their studies. More...

By Gilbert Nakweya. Recent research exploring the lacklustre uptake in formal agricultural studies at universities in Africa suggests that low enrolment by students is a key cause of a shortage of experts to drive the African development agenda, and points to the need for more programmes to promote agriculture to youth. More...

By Gilbert Nakweya. Kenya's University of Nairobi is committed to growing its existing alumni association in order to tap into the rich but largely untapped expertise and potential support of its alumni. More...

By Gilbert Nganga. The Kenyan government has ruled out any future increase in funding to universities, setting the stage for a sharp rise in student fees. More...

By Wagdy Sawahel. Calls for police-free university campuses in the wake of the killing by police of two students from the University of Kinshasa have coincided with a warning by Amnesty international about a “hostile political environment” ahead of election campaigning in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). More...

By Sharon Dell – Editor. A report from the South African Human Rights Commission investigation into allegations of racial tension, unfair discrimination and harassment at South Africa’s mega open distance education institution, the University of South Africa (Unisa), has produced heated debate in the media. On the one side are concerns that equity policies overlook merit; on the other, concerns about the “delegitimisation of black pain” in pursuit of a “dubious” sense of social cohesion. More...

By Sharon Dell – Editor. Higher education budget cuts in Kenya serve as the starting point for this week’s Africa Analysis by Paul Zeleza who highlights the need for universities to attract more funds for research from stakeholders, including business, philanthropic foundations and governments.
   In related News from Kenya, Gilbert Nganga reports on the likelihood of an increase in fees in the wake of the university budget cuts, while Gilbert Nakweya interviews officials from the University of Nairobi who say the institution is committed to building its alumni association out of recognition of the importance of alumni as a resource for the university sector.
   In Africa Features, Kudzai Mashininga looks back over the past year since former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe’s departure from office and the progress of the new government towards its higher education reforms, and Sharon Dell tracks a recent debate about the findings of a South African Human Rights Commission report into racial tensions at the distance education provider, the University of South Africa.
   In our World Blog this week, Patrick Blessinger, Enakshi Sengupta and Taisir Subhi Yamin write that one type of renewable resource that is needed for continued human progress and a sustainable future is the resource of lifelong learning.
   In the series on Transformative Leadership, published in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, Nic Mitchell unpacks a barometer report on access to higher education that says most countries are failing to tackle the issue of unequal access, with a large number paying only “lip service” to the equity agenda. More...