By Gilbert Nganga. Kenya’s public universities, many of which have embarked on ambitious infrastructure projects, are facing a rocky future following the government’s blanket ban on new infrastructure projects for all state agencies and the implementation of tighter procurement processes – all aimed at clamping down on corruption. More...

By Wondwosen Tamrat. Substance and drug abuse among university students has become a major global concern and a serious challenge. Substances commonly abused include alcohol, tobacco, prescription drugs, cannabis and other psychoactive substances. More...

By Gilbert Nakweya. African universities need a systematic change in teaching and learning approaches to help lecturers deal with growing student numbers and inadequate facilities, and to produce graduates who can make meaningful contributions in today’s knowledge-based economies. More...

By Munyaradzi Makoni. University vice-chancellors paid tribute to the legacy of the late Nelson Mandela last week on Mandela Day, while students and staff embarked on a wide range of activities aimed at helping people in need. More...

By Tonderayi Mukeredzi. An audit has revealed that, despite a national literacy rate above 90%, Zimbabwe has an appalling deficit of skilled professionals, particularly in the engineering, sciences, technology and agricultural sectors. More...

By Reuben Kyama. The African Leadership University School of Business (ALUSB), Africa’s pre-eminent leadership business school based in Rwanda, graduated its first cohort of pan-African professionals on 7 July at a ceremony held in Kigali, with Rwandan President Paul Kagame and renowned African business leader and philanthropist Strive Masiyiwa presiding over the occasion. More...

By Sharon Dell – Editor. In Africa Features, Edwin Naidu writes about plans by Universities South Africa, the body representing vice-chancellors of the country’s public universities, to investigate the gender imbalance at senior management levels of universities; while John Agaba highlights moves in Uganda by frustrated professional bodies in the health sector to introduce exit examinations for university graduates in a bid to improve the quality of graduates entering the health professions; and Tunde Fatunde provides an update on the detention of six Cameroonian academics deported from Nigeria earlier this year.
   In Africa Analysis, Oliver Mutanga, Bothwell Manyonga and Sindile Ngubane-Mokiwa raise some of their concerns about the new South African higher education disability policy, while Wondwosen Tamrat discusses the need to address the issue of substance abuse at institutions of higher education in Ethiopia.
   In News from around the continent, Wagdy Sawahel reports on the surprise axing of Somalia’s higher education minister last week, Gilbert Nganga reports on moves by the Kenyan government to clamp down on graft in the public sector, including higher education, and Rodrigue Rwirahira writes on attempts by a PhD candidate in Rwanda to stop his research from being sabotaged by a proposed government tender.
   In our World Blog this week, Marguerite J Dennis, inspired by the book Factfulness, urges universities to base their decisions on facts rather than perceived ideas and one-dimensional statistics when planning for a future of global collaboration and international student recruitment. More...