Nigeria has emerged as the top-performing country in Sub-Saharan Africa’s higher education rankings, with 24 universities listed in the 2026 Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
This makes Nigeria the most represented nation in the region, ahead of South Africa, which has 13 universities on the list.
According to the Times Higher Education Sub-Saharan Africa Insights 2026 report released on Thursday, the region now has a record 55 universities from 14 countries featured in the global rankings. This marks significant growth from just 10 universities less than a decade ago.
The report described the development as a positive sign for African higher education, noting improvements in both quality and visibility of universities across the continent.
While South Africa still leads in performance with four universities ranked among the world’s top 500, Nigeria’s representation highlights its growing presence in global academia.
The University of Cape Town remains Africa’s highest-ranked institution, placed 164th globally—its best ranking so far. The University of Johannesburg entered the top 400 for the first time, while the University of Pretoria returned to the 501–600 range.
For Nigeria, the University of Ibadan and the University of Lagos both appeared in the world’s top 1,000 universities for the first time. Ghana’s University of Cape Coast and Uganda’s Makerere University were also ranked within the same range.
Other countries recorded progress as well. Ghana now has four ranked universities, Botswana has two, while Kenya and Tanzania maintained two each. Senegal made its debut with Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar, marking a notable step for Francophone Africa.
The number of Sub-Saharan African universities featured in the rankings has steadily increased—from 12 in 2017 to 18 in 2020, 25 in 2022, 43 in 2024, and 55 in 2026.
Times Higher Education’s Chief Global Affairs Officer, Phil Baty, said the progress reflects both growth in representation and in quality.
The top 10 universities in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to the report, are:
- University of Cape Town (=164 globally)
- Stellenbosch University (301–350)
- University of the Witwatersrand (301–350)
- University of Johannesburg (351–400)
- University of KwaZulu-Natal (501–600)
- University of Pretoria (501–600)
- University of the Western Cape (601–800)
- Makerere University (801–1,000)
- University of Cape Coast (801–1,000)
- University of Ibadan / University of Lagos (801–1,000)
The report noted that while some Asian universities like Tsinghua University and the National University of Singapore have slowed in growth, and several institutions in the United States and Europe face funding and political challenges, Africa now has an opportunity to strengthen its position through research and innovation.
In Nigeria’s domestic rankings, the University of Ibadan emerged as the country’s best university for 2026, moving up from fourth position the previous year.
According to the rankings, the University of Ibadan and the University of Lagos share the same global band (801–1,000), followed by Bayero University, Covenant University, and Landmark University in the 1001–1200 range.
Nigerian universities performed differently across the five key indicators used by Times Higher Education: teaching, research environment, research quality, international outlook, and industry impact. The University of Lagos ranked highest for research quality, Bayero University led in international outlook, and Covenant University scored highest in industry engagement.
