By Maina Waruru and Christabel Ligami. With Kenyan elections done and dusted, the focus is now shifting to how President Uhuru Kenyatta and other elected officials will implement their ambitious election promises in relation to higher education and science, technology and innovation, or STI. More...

By Christabel Ligami. After resuming operations last month after a four-week closure to accommodate the recent presidential elections, universities are bracing themselves for further disruptions as academic staff are due to strike next week. More...

By Christabel Ligami. Newly appointed Makerere University Vice-chancellor Professor Barnabas Nawangwe has vowed to position the Ugandan university as the leading institution for academic excellence and innovation in Africa. More...

By Christabel Ligami. In a bid to hasten the slow pace of regional integration in Eastern and Southern Africa, the first cohort of students of a virtual university focused on the study of regional integration are to be admitted in September. More...

By Gilbert Nganga. Universities are facing a tough regulatory regime that has crippled expansion strategies that have seen Kenya’s universities spread their wings across most areas of the country and into neighbouring countries such as Tanzania, South Sudan, Rwanda and Uganda. More...

By Sharon Dell – Africa Editor. In Africa Analysis, Jonathan Jansen warns against the new normal of violence and disruption on South African university campuses, and other pressures with potentially devastating consequences for universities, as discussed in his book As by Fire: The end of the South African university.
   In Africa News, Munyaradzi Makoni reports on a lecture by renowned African scholar Professor Mahmood Mamdani on ‘Decolonising the Post-colonial University’ at the University of Cape Town in South Africa – the same institution Mamdani left 16 years ago after disagreements with colleagues over the content of a new curriculum, while Maina Waruru reports on the struggle by some private universities in Kenya to stay afloat, despite recently being allowed to admit government-sponsored students.
   In Africa Features, Stephen Coan interviews Professor Nelson Torto, recently appointed as the executive director of the African Academy of Sciences' Governing Council, and highlights Torto’s view on the power of research to propel Africa into the future, while Wagdy Sawahel writes about the challenge of meeting the needs of students with disabilities in North African universities.
   In World Blog, Patrick Blessinger and Enakshi Sengupta commend those who are working towards inclusivity of educational environments and encourage education, civic and other leaders to do more to ensure refugees have access to education, including higher education. More...

By Sharon Dell – Africa Editor. As part of our Special Report on the launch in Tanzania of the Alliance for African Partnership, which is the brainchild of Michigan State University, Penina Mlama discusses the need for a more reflective approach to building partnerships in the arts and literature between Africa and the rest of the world. In a series of other articles in our Special Report, Munyaradzi Makoni reports on some of the discussions which took place at the launch of the Alliance for African Partnership, which will innovate research collaboration between African institutions and international universities to tackle global challenges.
   In Africa Features, Sungula Nkabinde finds that in using data analytics to boost student success, knowing what data is important and how to use it is critical. Christabel Ligami interviews vice-chancellor designate Professor Barnabas Nawangwe about his plans to position Uganda’s flagship Makerere University as a leading African institution for academic excellence and innovation.
   In News from around the continent, Kudzai Mashininga reports on the Zimbabwean cabinet’s approval of a new university to be named after President Robert Mugabe, the anticipated cost of which will amount to a quarter of the national budget, and Wadgy Sawahel writes about the launch of a new doctoral school in Burundi. More...