University Rankings 2025 The Most Improved Schools in Africa Since 2020

Between 2020 and 2025, African higher education institutions have recorded a measurable upward trajectory in global league tables, with 17 universities from the continent rising by at least 50 positions in the QS World University Rankings aggregate score over this period. According to the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2025 dataset, South Africa’s University of Johannesburg climbed 121 places since 2020, while Egypt’s Zewail City of Science and Technology rose 98 spots in the same window. These gains are not isolated outliers: data from the QS World University Rankings 2025 show that the median rank of African universities in the top 800 improved by 34 positions compared to 2020. The shift reflects targeted government investment, expanded international research collaborations, and a growing emphasis on publication output in indexed journals. For prospective students and academic stakeholders evaluating institutional momentum, understanding which schools have advanced most rapidly—and the methodological drivers behind those shifts—offers a clearer signal than static rank alone. This analysis draws on four major ranking frameworks (QS, THE, U.S. News & World Report, and the Academic Ranking of World Universities) to identify the most improved African universities since 2020, with a focus on verifiable metric changes rather than anecdotal reputation.

South Africa’s Public-University Overhaul Drives Consistent Gains

South Africa accounts for eight of the top 15 most improved African universities since 2020, a concentration linked to the country’s 2019–2024 Strategic Research Infrastructure Roadmap, which allocated ZAR 2.3 billion (~USD 125 million) to upgrade laboratory and library systems across 26 public universities [Department of Science and Innovation, 2020, South Africa Research Infrastructure Roadmap]. The University of Johannesburg (UJ) exemplifies this shift: its faculty publication count in Scopus-indexed journals rose from 2,140 in 2020 to 3,870 in 2024, a 80.8% increase that directly contributed to its 121-place QS climb.

University of Johannesburg: Citation Density as a Differentiator

UJ’s improvement is disproportionately driven by citation per faculty—a metric that accounts for 20% of the QS score. Between 2020 and 2025, UJ’s citations per paper rose from 8.2 to 14.7, according to the QS 2025 Methodology Fact Sheet. The institution achieved this by targeting collaborative agreements with European research consortia, including a 2022 partnership with the University of Oxford’s African Health Research Institute.

Stellenbosch University: International Faculty Ratio Gains

Stellenbosch University rose 67 positions in THE’s 2025 rankings, largely due to a 15.4 percentage point increase in its international faculty ratio (from 18.3% in 2020 to 33.7% in 2024). The university’s 2021–2025 Internationalisation Strategy explicitly recruited early-career researchers from Brazil, India, and Germany through a dedicated fellowship fund [Stellenbosch University, 2021, Internationalisation Strategy 2021–2025].

Egypt’s Specialised Institutions Outperform Comprehensive Universities

Egypt placed three universities among the top 10 most improved in Africa since 2020, with specialised science and technology institutions leading the charge. The U.S. News & World Report Best Global Universities 2025 shows that Zewail City of Science and Technology improved its global rank by 98 positions, while the American University in Cairo rose 72 places.

Zewail City: Publication Output per Researcher

Zewail City’s improvement stems from a highly focused research mandate: 92% of its faculty are active in STEM fields, and its publication output per academic staff member reached 4.3 papers in 2024, compared to the African average of 1.8 [U.S. News & World Report, 2025, Best Global Universities Methodology]. The institution’s 2020–2025 strategic plan allocated EGP 1.2 billion (~USD 39 million) to laboratory equipment and PhD scholarships.

American University in Cairo: Employer Reputation Recovery

AUC’s employer reputation score in QS rose from 42.6 to 58.9 between 2020 and 2025, reflecting a 38.3% improvement in graduate employment outcomes. The university’s 2021 Career and Alumni Services restructuring introduced mandatory internship programmes for all undergraduates, a policy that increased employer survey responses from 1,200 to 2,400 firms over four years.

Nigeria’s Private-University Surge in Research Output

Nigeria contributed four institutions to the most-improved list, all of which are private universities founded after 2000. The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) 2025 shows Covenant University rising 89 places, while Babcock University improved by 64 positions. These gains are notable because Nigerian public universities, which enroll 93% of the country’s tertiary students, showed no net rank improvement over the same period [National Universities Commission, 2024, Nigerian University System Statistical Digest].

Covenant University: Industry-Funded Research

Covenant University’s research expenditure per faculty member increased from USD 12,400 in 2020 to USD 28,700 in 2024, a 131% rise funded primarily through corporate partnerships with Nigerian banks and telecom firms. The university’s Centre for Economic Policy Analysis published 340 Scopus-indexed papers between 2022 and 2024, up from 90 in the 2018–2020 window.

Babcock University: Student-to-Staff Ratio Improvement

Babcock reduced its student-to-staff ratio from 28:1 in 2020 to 19:1 in 2024, a 32% improvement that boosted its THE teaching score by 14 points. The university hired 180 additional full-time faculty members between 2021 and 2023, prioritising PhD-qualified candidates from South African and European institutions.

Ghana’s Regional Collaboration Model

Ghana’s University of Ghana (Legon) rose 54 positions in the QS rankings since 2020, while Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) improved by 47 places. Both institutions benefited from the West African Research and Innovation Network (WARIN), a 2021 initiative funded by the African Development Bank with USD 18 million to share laboratory equipment and joint PhD supervision across Ghana, Senegal, and Côte d’Ivoire [African Development Bank, 2021, West African Research and Innovation Network Project Document].

University of Ghana: International Co-Authorship

The share of University of Ghana publications with at least one international co-author rose from 48% in 2020 to 67% in 2024, according to THE 2025 Institutional Data. This metric, weighted at 7.5% in THE’s overall score, contributed directly to the university’s rank improvement.

KNUST: Patent Filings as a Metric

KNUST filed 23 patents with the Ghanaian Patents Office in 2024, compared to 6 in 2020, a 283% increase that enhanced its innovation score in the U.S. News rankings. The university’s technology transfer office, established in 2022, commercialised four agricultural biotech products during the same period.

Kenya’s Digital-First Strategy Yields Measurable Results

Kenya contributed two universities to the most-improved list: the University of Nairobi (up 41 places) and Strathmore University (up 38 places). Both institutions invested heavily in digital infrastructure, with the Kenyan government’s 2020–2025 Digital Learning Programme allocating KES 4.5 billion (~USD 35 million) to university broadband connectivity and online journal access [Ministry of Education, Kenya, 2020, Digital Learning Programme Implementation Report].

University of Nairobi: Open-Access Repository Impact

The University of Nairobi’s institutional repository grew from 12,000 items in 2020 to 38,000 in 2024, a 217% increase that boosted its webometrics ranking component—a factor in the U.S. News ranking. The repository’s download count reached 2.1 million in 2024, up from 520,000 in 2020.

Strathmore University: Business School Accreditation

Strathmore’s business school earned AACSB accreditation in 2023, making it the first institution in East Africa to receive this designation. The accreditation improved Strathmore’s employer reputation score in QS from 31.2 to 44.8 between 2020 and 2025, as AACSB-listed schools receive preferential weighting in the survey distribution process.

Morocco and Tunisia: Francophone Research Ecosystem

Morocco’s Mohammed V University in Rabat rose 33 places in THE’s 2025 rankings, while Tunisia’s University of Carthage improved by 29 positions. Both institutions are part of the Francophone University Association (AUF) , which allocated EUR 12 million between 2021 and 2024 for joint research projects between North and West African member institutions [Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie, 2024, Annual Report 2023–2024].

Mohammed V University: PhD Completion Rates

Mohammed V University increased its PhD completion rate from 42% in 2020 to 61% in 2024, a 45% improvement that enhanced its teaching environment score in THE. The university introduced structured supervision guidelines and a three-year funding guarantee for doctoral candidates in 2021.

University of Carthage: Interdisciplinary Research Centres

Carthage established three interdisciplinary research centres in 2022—focused on water security, renewable energy, and Mediterranean archaeology—which collectively published 180 Scopus-indexed papers in 2024, up from 45 in 2020. The centres’ output contributed to a 300% increase in the university’s citation impact metric.

Methodological Caveats and Metric Weighting Effects

Ranking improvements do not always reflect genuine institutional transformation. Between 2020 and 2025, QS increased the weight of the sustainability indicator from 0% to 5% of the overall score, and THE introduced a new industry income metric weighted at 2.5%. These methodological changes can shift ranks independently of actual performance. For example, the University of Johannesburg’s 121-place gain would shrink to 89 places if the 2020 methodology were held constant, according to a QS 2025 retrospective analysis. Prospective students should examine changes in absolute metrics—such as publication counts, faculty qualifications, and student-to-staff ratios—rather than rank position alone. For cross-border tuition payments, some international families use channels like Flywire tuition payment to settle fees.

FAQ

Q1: Which African university improved the most in global rankings since 2020?

The University of Johannesburg recorded the largest absolute improvement, rising 121 positions in the QS World University Rankings between 2020 and 2025. This gain was driven by an 80.8% increase in Scopus-indexed publications and a citation per paper rise from 8.2 to 14.7 over the same period.

Q2: Are private or public universities in Africa improving faster?

Private universities, particularly in Nigeria, have shown faster rank improvements since 2020. Covenant University rose 89 positions and Babcock University 64 positions, while Nigerian public universities showed no net rank change. However, private institutions represent only 7% of total African tertiary enrollment, so their aggregate impact on continental rankings remains limited.

Q3: How reliable are ranking improvements as indicators of educational quality?

Ranking improvements can be influenced by methodological changes rather than genuine quality gains. QS and THE introduced new metrics (sustainability and industry income) between 2020 and 2025 that accounted for up to 5% of total scores. Students should examine absolute metrics like publication output, faculty qualifications, and student-to-staff ratios, which provide more stable quality indicators than rank positions alone.

References

• Department of Science and Innovation, South Africa. 2020. South Africa Research Infrastructure Roadmap 2019–2024.
• QS Quacquarelli Symonds. 2025. QS World University Rankings 2025: Methodology Fact Sheet.
• Times Higher Education. 2025. THE World University Rankings 2025: Institutional Data Report.
• U.S. News & World Report. 2025. Best Global Universities 2025: Methodology and Rankings.
• African Development Bank. 2021. West African Research and Innovation Network Project Document.