Five South African universities have emerged top among a group of 41 African universities ranked in the 20th edition of the QS World University Rankings 2024, which was released on June 27. All five South African institutions have shown improvement from the previous year and have secured positions among the top 500 universities globally.

The University of Cape Town has claimed the top spot in Africa, advancing from 237th to 173rd position globally. The University of the Witwatersrand follows closely in second place on the continent, ranked 264th worldwide. Stellenbosch University has made significant progress, jumping from 454th position last year to 283rd position this year and securing the third slot in Africa.

The University of Johannesburg, ranked fourth on the continent, has also improved its position, moving from 412th to 306th globally. The University of Pretoria has shown remarkable progress, ascending from the 591-600 bracket last year to 323rd position globally, securing the fifth spot in Africa.

While South Africa has the highest number of highly ranked universities, Egypt takes the lead in terms of the total number of universities ranked, with 15 institutions. South Africa follows closely with 11 institutions, an increase from last year's nine universities.

Out of the ranked African universities, 75% have shown improvement in the current edition, according to Simona Bizzozero, the communications director at QS Quacquarelli Symonds. Notable advancements include Cairo University, which climbed from the 551-600 category to the 371st position globally, and the University of KwaZulu-Natal, which has maintained its position among the top 1,000 universities globally and moved up from the 801-1,000 bracket to 621-630, securing the eighth position in Africa.

The University of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia emerged as the highest-ranked university in Sub-Saharan Africa outside South Africa, positioned in the 852-900 bracket. Other universities in the top 1,000 include the University of South Africa (UNISA), Alexandria University in Egypt, and Rhodes University in South Africa.

This year, there are 18 African universities in the top 1,000, compared to 11 last year. Additionally, 11 universities fall within the 1,201-1,400 bracket, representing the second-largest African cohort.

In addition to the traditional six performance indicators, QS included three new indicators to evaluate universities in this 20th edition of their world rankings. Together, the nine performance indicators (with weightings) are: academic reputation (30%), citations per faculty member (20%), employer reputation (15%), employment outcomes (5%), faculty-to-student ratio (10%), international faculty ratio (5%), international student ratio (5%), international research networks (5%) and sustainability (5%).

The QS World University Rankings consider a university's capacity to provide evidence of the comprehensiveness of its degree programs for inclusion and participation. The top three globally ranked universities are the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Oxford.

Photo courtesy /  QS

Article by Jed Mwangi

https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2024?&region=Africa