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Introduction

Higher education institutions (HEIs) in the Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries have gone through

various reforms and witnessed considerable level of growth that has serious policy implications for the

continent. The system, according to IAU (2000)1, comprises the universities, polytechnics, colleges of

education and professional/specialized institutions. At the heart of the system are the universities, which

represent the highest institutions of learning and research in the continent. Higher education offers the

most crucial platform to accumulate human capital in the form of relevant manpower training, abilities,

attitudes, skills and knowledge (Babalola, 2007). Higher education (HE) plays a prominent role in the

economy of a nation. In this regard, HE is one of the decisive factors in life chances, equal opportunity

and advancements. It is the most powerful instrument for developing and empowering the citizens to

master their social and cultural environment and compete for survival. It increases individual’s chances

for employment in the labour market, provides opportunity for higher wages and enhances individual’s

prospect for job mobility. The World Bank in 2007 attested to this when it says that HE is central to

economic and political development, and vital to competitiveness in an increasingly globalizing

knowledge society.

To this end, higher education in the SSA needs to be expanded so as to be able to accommodate the large

population of qualified youth denied admission because of limited facilities. The economic relevance of

expanding access to higher education relates to the role of higher education in solving societal problems.

In almost every country, access to higher education has been recognized as an important societal goal.

Higher education provides the training needed for most skilled occupations and professions in the society.

For almost a century, higher education (particularly the universities) has become an instrument for social

mobility – a way for individuals to obtain the skills they need to improve their income level and status.

Consequently, there is growth in the number of HEIs, which have provided an increased access to a wider

section of the population. For instance, since World War II, especially after the 1960s, enrolment in

higher education increased dramatically worldwide, doubling from 40 million in 1975 to 80 million in

1995, and perhaps reaching 150 million in 2007 (Altbach, 2008). In Nigeria, the number of HEIs has

increased over the past few years as a response to the rising demand for higher education in the country.

Between 2001 and 2005, the total number of universities in the country increased from 51 to 80, and 128

by 2013 (Okonji, 2013). In addition, other non-university HEIs increased from about 163 to 178 (National

Bureau of Statistics, 2006). Table 1 shows enrolment in HEIs as at 2013.

1 International Association of Universities (IAU) (2000). Nigeria-education system.

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Table 1. Nigeria Higher Education System in 2013

Type of institution Federal State Private Total Enrol-

ment

%

Universities 40 38 50 128 1,131,312 58.4

Polytechnics 21 38 12 71

360, 535 18.6

Monotechnics 23 2 2 27

Colleges of Agriculture 17 19 0 36

91 259 4.7Colleges of Health

Technology

9 40 1 50

Vocational Institutes 0 0 69 69

Colleges of Education 21 41 17 79 354 387 18.3

Total 131 178 150 460 1 937 493 100

Compiled by Olayinka and Adedeji, 2013

However, in spite of the seeming rapid growth in tertiary education development, the enrolment gap

between demand and supply has not improved, rather the demand for access have continued to rise in the

face of limited supply. For instance, in 1995/96 academic session, only about 7.3 percent of the total

applicants to universities in Nigeria were admitted, while only about 11.3 percent were offered admission

in 2001/2002 academic year (Isuku, 2007). The access problems have made Nigeria a ready market for

the recruitment of potential students by foreign universities. For instance, in 2008/09 session alone, about

6,256 and 10,090 Nigerian students were registered in United States and United Kingdom universities

respectively, with tuition and living expenses averaging £19,000 per session for international students in

UK and $21,000 in US universities (Bamiro and Adedeji 2010). Thus, Nigerian students in the two

countries, aggregately, must have spent close to N70 billion on tuition and living expenses per session. It

is pertinent to note that the Federal Government budgeted N249 billion for the entire Nigerian education

sector in 2009. The implication of this to the fragile economy cannot be overemphasised. Besides, there

are serious challenges of overcrowding in many universities in Nigeria due to the limited carrying

capacity of these institutions. Table 2 shows the gap between enrolment and carrying capacity in Nigerian

universities.

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Table 2: Enrolment and carrying capacity in Nigerian universities

Institution/System Enrolment Carrying Capacity Over Enrolment

Universities 1,096,312 715,000 381,312

NOUN 35,000 100,000 -65,000

Polytechnics/Monotechnics 360,535 198,370 162,165

Colleges of Education 354,387 118,129 236,258

National Teachers

Institute

91,259 100,000 -8,741

Source: Okojie, 2010

It should be noted that these figures are exclusive of enrolments into open and distance learning (ODL)

and part time programmes, which use the same facilities. Also, about 1.2 million candidates apply

annually for admission into universities, while only about 200,000 are admitted. In contrast, only about

200,000 students apply for admission into the Polytechnics and Colleges of Education through JAMB.

The preference for university education has adverse implications on the quality of entrants and products

of Polytechnics and Colleges of Education and compounds the problem of access in this sub sector. In

2006, out of the over 140 million Nigerian population (2006 census figures), only 6.0% (7.5% males and

4.5% females) had tertiary education. The implication is that access to higher education is not keeping

pace with the growing population. Thus, one of the key challenges facing HEIs in Nigeria relates to

access at all levels. Table 3 shows the relatively low levels of access for females at all levels, and for both

males and females at the secondary level. At all levels of the system, males outnumber females by a large

margin.

Table 3: Gross Enrolment and Gender Parity Ratios by Level of Enrolment (2006)

Level of Education Gross Enrolment Ratio (%) Gender Parity Index

Primary 96

Female 87

0.83

SSA average: 0.90

Secondary 32

Female 29

0.82

Tertiary 10

Male 12

Female 8

0.67

Source: UNESCO, 2009

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In 1985, the percentage enrolment into higher institutions in Nigeria stood at 3.5%. In 1990, it rose to

4.1% and later dropped slightly to 4.0% in 1995; while Algeria had 7.9%, 11.4% and 12.0% respectively

during the same period. South Korea’s tertiary education enrolment reached 52.0% in 1995 from 34% and

28.5% during the period under review, while the United States of America had an enrolment of about

90% by 1995 (World Bank, 2002)2. The participation rate in tertiary education increased in 2009 to 10%,

which is high by sub-Saharan African standards (average 5%) but much lower than the average for

developing countries (17%) (UNESCO, 2009).

Access to education is an important indicator of human resource development, Nigeria’s status in human

resource development is unsatisfactory. For instance, in the United Nations Development Programme

(UNDP) Human Development Index (HDI, 2011), Nigeria was ranked 156th out of 187 countries and a

mean year of schooling of 5 years. Similarly, in the 2011/2012 Global Competiveness Index (GCI),

Nigeria ranked 114th in higher education and 106

th in technological readiness out of the 140 countries

surveyed (Garba, 2012). The low HDI explains the consequences of inadequate access to universities and

other higher educational institutions in Nigeria. Unfortunately however, despite this exasperating

development, the demand for university education continues to be on the increase with a growing number

of applicants becoming more disappointed as they are unable to gain access to university education. This

development obviously demands for urgent intervention. Table 4 provides some socio-economic

indicators for Ghana and Nigeria. These indicators reveal the low development status of both countries.

For example, Nigeria has a Human Development Index (a composite of income, life expectancy, and

adult literacy) ranking of 158 out of 171 countries that are ranked by the UNDP, with Ghana slightly

higher at 152.

Table 4: Some Socio-Economic Indicators – Ghana and Nigeria

Ghana Nigeria

Human Development Index (HDI)

ranking (out of 171 countries)

Ranked number 1 is Norway (HDI =

0.971) and 2 is Australia (0.970)

152

158

Life expectancy at birth (2007) 56.5 47.7

Adult literacy (aged 15+, 1999-2007)

65.0

72.0

Combined Gross Enrolment in

Education (2007)

56.5

53.0

GDP per capita (US$, PPP, 2007) 1334 1969

2 Cited in Teklu Abate Bekele (2013) Education systems in Sub-Saharan Africa: Trends and developments, Retrieved

September 28, 2014

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Poverty

Population living below $1.25/day (%)

Population living below $2 per day (%)

Population below national poverty line

(%)

30.0

57.7

40.2

64.4

83.9

34.1

Gini Index (a measure of inequality) 0.428 0.429

Source: UNDP Human Development Report, 2009. SSA averages: HDI – 0.514; Life expectancy – 51, 5;

Adult literacy – 62.9; Combined GER in education – 53.5; GDP per capita - $2031.

Poverty levels are extremely high in both countries. In Nigeria it is estimated that 84% of the population

is living below the $2 a day level and more than one-third below the national poverty level (Adedeji and

Pundi, 2010). In addition, both countries demonstrate moderately high levels of inequality as reflected in

their respective Gini indices. Furthermore, both countries have an income (GDP) per capita that is lower

than the SSA average ($2031). Considering the role of HE in capacity building and professional training

in support of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the findings of Bloom, Canning, and Chan

(2006) indicate that expanding tertiary education may promote faster technological catch-up and improve

a country’s ability to maximize its economic output, unfortunately many African countries are yet to

leverage on these enormous potential. The rest of this paper will focus on the goals of higher education,

impacts, especially the possible policy areas for necessary impact and the challenges facing higher

education in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Higher Education Goals in Sub-Saharan Africa

Education has been adjudged as the bedrock of the development all over the world. The role of Higher

education is most essential among the levels of education. There are different institutions that constitute

higher education (HE). These are colleges of education, polytechnics, monotechnics, universities and

those institutions offering correspondence courses. It is necessary to describe these institutions with their

goals for clarity.

i. Colleges of Education: The colleges of education are responsible for the training of teachers to

feed the primary and secondary tiers of the educational system. The importance of colleges of

education is derived from the fact that quality of trained teachers largely determines the quality of

the secondary and primary school products. (Bamiro and Adedeji, 2010).

ii. The Polytechnic and Monotechnic Education: The word ‘polytechnic’ is used generically to cover

the polytechnics and the monotechnics/specialized institutions. The polytechnics offer a variety of

technical, technological/business programmes to the level of National Diploma and Higher

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National Diploma (HND). While monotechnics/specialized institutions are singled-discipline

technical institutions for National Diploma and Higher National Diploma. The general goals of

this category of higher education include provision of instruction and training in engineering,

technologies, applied science, business and management leading to production of trained

technical manpower

iii. University Education: This is the peak of higher education. The responsibilities of propounding,

preserving, promoting and propagating knowledge fall squarely on the university system (the

peak of higher education) by ways of teaching, carrying out research and provision of extension

and community services (Babalola, 2008). In other words, the university education is meant to

drive a knowledge-based economy. According to Brubacher (FME, 2003), the fundamental

mission of universities is to promote the life of the mind through intellectual inquiry and to

generate, store and transmit specialized knowledge and sophisticated expertise, higher forms of

culture and ethical basis of conduct. In support of Brubacher’s position, Ivowi (2006) submits that

universities exist to generate, disseminate and apply knowledge through teaching, research and

extension services.

Higher Education Potential Impacts on Sub-Saharan Africa’s Development

At the beginning of this millennium, poverty was estimated to afflict 1.5 billion people in the world.

Africa’s share of this global poverty is monumental as over 400 million Africans (about 50 percent of the

continent’s population) are living below $1 per day poverty line. Africa is the poorest of the regions

(World Bank, 2000; Jaiyeoba and Atanda, 2008). This is an indicator that Sub-Saharan Africa’s economy

is poor whereas the region is endowed with natural resources as well as large population. The manpower

to maximize the resources appears to be an issue. Meanwhile, it is apparent that the world at large is being

driven by knowledge economy. Thus, Bloom, Canning, and Chan (2006) stressed that in a knowledge

economy, tertiary education can help economies keep up or catch up with more technologically advanced

societies. Higher education graduates are likely to be more aware of and better able to use new

technologies. They are also more likely to develop new tools and skills themselves. Their knowledge can

also improve the skills and understanding of non-graduate coworkers, while the greater confidence and

know-how inculcated by advanced schooling may generate entrepreneurship, with positive effects on job

creation. Bamiro (2003) remarked that in the last two decades, higher education worldwide has moved

from the periphery to the centre of governmental agendas in most countries. That universities are now

seen as crucial national assets in addressing many policy priorities, particularly, as sources of new

knowledge and innovative thinking, providers of skilled personnel and credible credentials, contributors

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to innovation, attractors of international talent and business investment, agents of social justice and

mobility, contributors to social and cultural vitality and determinants of health and well-being of a nation.

As Figure 1 shows, higher education can lead to economic growth through both private and public

channels. The private benefits for individuals are well established and include better employment

prospects, higher salaries, and a greater ability to save and invest. These benefits may result in better

health and improved quality of life, thus setting off a virtuous spiral in which life expectancy

improvements enable individuals to work more productively over a longer time further boosting lifetime

earnings

Source: Bloom, D, Canning, D and Chan, K (2006) Higher Education and Economic Development in

Africa. Human Development Sector Africa Region

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Research has shown the correlation between higher education and economic development. Bloom,

Canning and Chan (2006) enumerated some of the studies that established the impact of higher education

on manpower development, improved productivity and income growth. These include:

Barro and Sala-i-Martin (1995) found that male educational attainment, particularly secondary

and tertiary education, had significant positive growth effects. They find an interaction between

initial GDP and human capital (broadly defined, including health and education), so that countries

that lag behind tend to grow faster if they have high levels of human capital.

In a time series analysis of the United Kingdom, Jenkins looked at an index of total factor

productivity and its relationship to different levels of educational attainment. When higher

education qualifications (including undergraduate, postgraduate, and other tertiary graduate

stock) increased by 1 per cent, annual output grew between 0.42 and 0.63 per cent (Jenkins,

1995).

A study in Taiwan showed that higher education played a strong role in the country’s economic

growth. It found that a 1 per cent rise in higher education stock (as defined by those who had

completed higher education, including junior college, college, university, or graduate school) led

to a 0.35 per cent rise in industrial output, and that a 1 per cent increase in the number of

graduates from engineering or natural sciences led to a 0.15 per cent increase in agricultural

output (T-C Lin, 2004).

Wolff and Gittleman showed that university enrollment rates are correlated with labour

productivity growth. The number of scientists and engineers per capita is also associated with

economic growth (Gittleman,1993).

In a study of six developed countries, De Meulemeester and Rochat showed that higher education

had a strong causal impact on economic growth in France, Japan, Sweden, and the United

Kingdom, but no impact in Australia and Italy. The authors conclude that higher education is

necessary but not sufficient condition for growth. It is argued that the social, political, and

economic structures as well as the technological level of the society, to which the educational

system belongs, are important paraphernalia for graduates to interact with during the process of

knowledge accumulation (Meulemeester and Rochat, 1995).

Bloom, Hartley, and Rosovsky (2006) showed that workers in the United States, where the

proportion of college graduates is high, earn significantly more than those in states with few

graduates, whether or not they have received a tertiary education themselves. The same study

showed a positive correlation between higher education and entrepreneurship. The authors used

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Babson College’s Global Entrepreneurship Monitor’s Total Entrepreneurship Activity (TEA)

Index, which uses information from 17 countries to measure the share of adults involved in new

firms or start-up activities. Individuals with higher education levels were more likely to engage in

entrepreneurial activity, and more educated entrepreneurs created larger numbers of jobs than

less-educated entrepreneurs.

The general belief of the likely impacts higher education could make on skill acquisition, individual

income or earning and national economic growth informed continuous expansion of higher education in

Sub-Saharan Africa.

Higher Education Development in Sub-Sahara Africa

Development theorists offer three sets of explanations concerning the growth of higher education in the

Sub-Sahara Africa countries. These are discussed below:

Pre-Colonial Period

Education is as old as human being history on the planet. It is on record that education has been in place

before the commencement of colonization in Africa. There was indigenous education at all levels before

the colonization of Africa. There were two higher education institutions in Egypt in the last two or three

centuries BC. In 859 AD, there was a Moroccan Islamic HEI at Karawiyyinn. In 970 AD, Al-Azhar of

Cairo was established. In the 12th C, Sankore in Timbukutu was established while Ethiopian Orthodox

Church provided education since 304 AD (Saint, 2004). The Pre-colonial education was similar to

modern education at least in intent and was highly elitist.

Colonial Period

During colonial period, the colonizers established institutions at all levels. The reasons were to transmit

their own culture and to tap the human capital and, also to assist colonial administration with local skilled

workers. However, the education provided was highly elitist and irrelevant to African contexts. The

newly formed Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) were modeled after colonial institutions. Many

universities were established during the colonial period. The higher institutions established as first

generation by the colonial administration are in Table 5:

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Table 5: First Higher Institutions by Colonial Administration in Sub-Sahara Africa

Countries Universities Year of Establishment

Ethiopia University College of Addis Ababa 1950

Uganda Makerere technical college 1920s

Kenya Royal Technical College of East Africa 1956

Tanzania University College of Tanganyika 1961

Sudan Gordon Memorial College 1939

Nigeria Yaba higher college 1934

Source: Teklu, A. B (2008). Education systems in Sub-Saharan Africa

Post-colonial period:

The 1950s/60s reforms focused on making HEIs independent and relevant. Although, most of the

universities were created after 1960 but the number of public and private universities has grown

significantly over the year. For instance, Nigeria, that had two universities in 1960, now has 128

universities including private and public. After the independence, countries in the region made some

reforms including widening of access, inclusion of new fields and streams (Aina, 1994). Reform also

considered education relevance to African needs. Donors influenced and supported reform and

implementation. Structure of higher education systems became more and more elaborated as time passed.

Challenges of Higher Education in Sub-Sahara Africa

From a global perspective, economic and social development is increasingly driven by the application of

knowledge. Education in general and tertiary higher education in particular is fundamental to the

construction of knowledge economy and society in all nations (World Bank, 1999 in Jaiyeoba and

Atanda, 2008). Complimenting this, Hayward (2006) reiterated that, active participation in knowledge

societies is essential to economic growth and higher education institutions are the engines for that growth.

However, it appears that higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa has not been able to contribute its quota

to knowledge economy as expected. Research scholars have been able to discover some challenges facing

higher education which are hindrances to fulfillment of its goals in Sub-Saharan Africa sustainable

development. Some of these challenges include:

Enrolment Issues: The continuing enrolment into universities Sub-Saharan Africa should have been an

interesting story, however, the demand is at variance with the supply. This in turn creates a number of

administrative problems. From the reports of the scoping studies of eight Sub-Saharan countries –

Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, Sudan, Uganda, Nigeria and Ghana- the country reports showed that

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higher education in these countries is facing significant structural challenges. One of the challenges is

increased demand for higher education due to a growing young population and desire for social mobility

(Bamiro, 2013). For instance, the Premier University in Nigeria, the University of Ibadan, had a student

population of 16,500 in 2004, more than three times of the figure for 1972 without appreciable addition to

the institutions infrastructure (NUC, 2004). The continuous increase of enrolment in higher education

without commensurate expansion of facilities has resulted into overcrowded campuses in African public

universities (World Bank 2002; UNSECO, 2003)3

World Bank figures (2010) observed that the demand for higher education in African countries is on the

rise, as demonstrated, that between 1991 and 2006 the number of students pursuing secondary and tertiary

education in African countries tripled from 2.7 million to 9.3 million. Irfan & Margolese-Malin (2011)

predict that if current demographic trends continue, the number of students bound for higher education

could reach 20 million by 2015 for the continent as a whole.

Though enrolment has doubled and tripled in many higher Education Institutions ( HEIs), Africa has the

lowest enrollment rate in the world (World Bank, 2002; UNSCO 2003), According to the UNESCO

(2008), the national enrolment rate for Sub-Saharan Africa was 5% in 2006 for Ethiopia -2%, Kenya-

3% and Uganda-3%. This implies that a lot of youths are denied access to higher education. Thus, some

seek admission outside the continent. Bamiro and Adedeji (2010) confirmed that acute problem of access

has led to a situation where Nigeria has become ready market for the recruitment of students by

universities abroad. That the Public Affairs Section of the US Consulate and the Visa Section of the

British High Commission, about 6,222 and 10,000 Nigerian students were registered in the United States

and the United Kingdom universities respectively in 2007/2008 session. The figure increased slightly in

2008/2009 session to 6,256 and 10,090 in the US and UK universities respectively.

Africa scores the lowest higher education participation rate in the world. The average gross rate of tertiary

education enrolment (GER) was 8% in 2011 (5% if considering only the female rate and 8% considering

only the male). This range differs from country to country, For instance, in 2009 the tertiary GER exceeds

the regional average in the following countries: Cameroon (9.0%), Cape Verde (14.9%), Côte d'Ivoire

(8.4%), Guinea (9.2%), Mauritius (25.9%), Namibia (8.9%) and Senegal (8.0%). However, the ratio

remains quite low in countries such as: Burkina Faso (3.4%), Burundi (2.7%), Central African Republic

(2.5%), Chad (2.0%), Eritrea (2.0%), Ethiopia (3.6%), Madagascar (3.6%), Malawi (0.5%), Niger (1.4%)

3 Cited in Teklu Abate Bekele (2013) Education systems in Sub-Saharan Africa: Trends and developments, Retrieved

September 28, 2014

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and Uganda (3.7%) (UNESCO, 2010). The tertiary gross enrollment ratio for Anglophone countries

averaged 6.7%, in comparison to the 2.9% that characterized Francophone nations (Azcona, Chute, Dib,

Dookhony, Klein, Loyacano-Perl, Randazzo, 2008)

Source: UNESCO, Trends in tertiary education: Sub-Saharan Africa, UIS Facts Sheet, No. 10, 2010

At the same time Sub-Saharan Africa reaches the highest annual growth rate: enrolment in tertiary

education grew faster in sub-Saharan Africa than in any other region over the last four decades. While

there were fewer than 200,000 tertiary students enrolled in the region in 1970, this number soared to over

4.5 million in 2008 – a more than 20-fold increase. In effect, the gross enrolment ratio (GER) for tertiary

education grew at an average rate of 8.6% for each year between 1970 and 2008 – compared to a global

average of 4.6% over the same period As in 2008, the tertiary GER reached 6%, compared to 27% for

upper secondary education, analysts talk about a growing pressure on tertiary education; undoubtedly

there will be more and more students that will be eligible for higher education but many of them won’t

succeed in accessing it. According to the projections, Sub-Saharan Africa will experience a unique

demographic transition, with an estimated 258 million Africans expected to reach prime working age (15

- 24 years) by 2025. UNESCO talks about an “explosive growth” to which African universities must be

prepared to mitigate (UNESCO, 2010; Montanini, 2013).

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Infrastructure Challenges: Provision of adequate infrastructure and efficient utilization form some of the

determinants of quality of education. For instance, information and communication technologies have

become the prime mover of higher education development. According to World Bank (2003), ICT holds

the opportunity to revolutionize pedagogical methods. The role of higher education in building modern

society is incomplete without integrating ICTs into their higher education system. Daniels (2002) attested

to the fact when he said that, ICTs have become, within a very short time, one of the basic building blocks

of modern society. However, research evidence has shown that higher education programme in Sub-

Saharan Africa has a weak ICT infrastructure limiting digital engagement and access to digital resource

for faculty and learner (World Bank 2002; UNESCO, 2003; Bamiro, 2013). In the face of poor and

limited ICT access, Africa higher education may not be able to compete with higher education from other

regions. Effectiveness and efficiency in the use of internet facility are factors to reckon with in higher

education. Thus, Atanda and Jaiyeoba (2013) affirmed that the extent to which higher education from

different continents use internet to drive knowledge economy and market their vital information is a

function of effective utilization of internet facility. Therefore, weak and poor ICT system in Africa higher

education constitutes a threat to the development of higher education in Africa. Apart from ICT facilities

other infrastructure like office accommodation for staff, students’ hostel, research facilities and library are

either inadequate or too obsolete to bring about desirable improvement in quality of learning.

Funding Issue: The achievement of higher education goals all over the world depends to a large extent on

adequate funding. The acquisition of infrastructure, employment and retention of qualified staff, among

others, are determined by the effective funding. However, there is constraint on public funding for higher

education not only in Africa but in developed and developing countries (UNESCO, 2004). Research

evidence has attested inadequate funding of higher education in Nigeria. Babalola (2008) in his situation

analysis of Nigerian University system as at 2007 discovered low funding and poor resource allocation.

Bamiro and Adedeji (2010) reported similar situation, that higher education in Nigeria is challenged by a

number of problems including inadequate financing. The country reports for higher education in Sub-

Saharan Africa showed that the system is facing a number of significant structural challenges including

decreasing financial support in relative terms from national governments as well as limited interest in

higher education from donor bodies. The little contributions by the donor is not without shortcoming.

Higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa is funded by different international public and private donors.

The public donors can be identified as international organizations, development banks and organizations

for bilateral cooperation between countries Montanini, (2013). UNESCO, in the survey “Youth and skills:

Putting education to work, Private Philanthropy & Social Investments in Support of Education for All”,

classified private donors in companies, foundations, billionaires and others additional entities. Concerning

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public donors, the World Bank is the dominant institution: in 2008 the funding amounted to USD 500

million. Among private donors, the Partnership for Higher education in Africa (PHEA) made by seven

foundations (Carnegie Corporation of New York, The Ford Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T.

MacArthur Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the

Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Kresge Foundation) was the largest donor institution for ten

years, until it closed in 2010. Other important foundations are the Carnegie Corporation of New York that

allocates $20 million annually, the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation (about $8.2 million in five years.),

the Gates Foundation, the Welcome Trust of the U.K., and the International Development Research

Center (IDRC) of Canada.

However, the higher education donors have been criticized. UNESCO (2010) expresses concern for

certain emerging tendencies of international donors. Analyzing the activities of the principal foundations

and corporations, the paper notices (i) lack of transparency and accountability, (ii) lack of coordination

and cohesiveness, (iii) short term contribution for long-term needs, (iv) weak monitoring and evaluation

procedures, (v) ambiguities in targets’ choice, (vi) arbitrary definition of ‘shared value’.

Private donors tend to give little information about their magnitude, scope and budget, and in some case

even about their projects, reducing their public transparency and accountability. This lack of information

and details makes difficult to map private donors and to evaluate the real amount of their support to

higher education.

Research Quality: One of the core responsibilities of higher education is research. Research is a

disciplined inquiry that aims to contribute to a body of knowledge (ESRC, 2005). Atanda (2012) affirmed

that research is a principal mandate of the university system in contributing their quota to national

development. Bamiro and Adedeji (2010) explained that from the time immemorial, research has been

central in the performance of the three key mandates of academics (i.e. teaching, research and community

service). At the university level, academic staff productivity is measured by the number of research output

published per year in most of Sub-Saharan higher education institutions. In fact, university ranking in the

world at large takes into cognizance quality of research output from the universities. The output of

academic research in Africa is weak. In 1995, the region was responsible for just 5,839 published

academic papers while South Asia produced 15,995 published papers, and Latin America and the

Caribbean, 14,426. Only the Middle East and North Africa produced fewer papers than Sub-Saharan

Africa, yet the former’s total had doubled since 1981, while Sub-Saharan Africa’s had risen by one third

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It is evident that in global university rankings, institutions from the developed countries are dominating,

particularly those in Europe and the United States. Nevertheless, some South African universities perform

relatively well and dominate in Africa. For instance, out of 23 South African universities were ranked

among the top 500 globally by the 2006 Academic Ranking of World Universities. They were the

University of Cape Town (at 252), University of the Witwatersrand (396), University of KwaZulu-Natal

(470), and the University of Pretoria (481). Apart from these universities from South Africa, another

African institution that was ranked 405 among the 500 was the University of Cairo in Egypt.

Table 6; Academic Ranking of World Universities – Africa Rankings

Rank Country University

252 South Africa University of Cape Town

396 South Africa University of the Witwatersrand

402 Egypt University of Cairo

470 South Africa University of KwaZulu-Natal

481 South Africa University of Pretoria

(Source: Institute of Higher Education, 2006).

Further, in the 2008’s global ranking of world universities, by the Institute of Higher Education at

Shanghai Jaio Tong University in China, only three African universities remained in the top 500. The

Universities of Cape Town, Witwatersrand and KwaZulu-Natal are in the top 500; however, two other

universities have fallen off this list. The quality of research output is one of the criteria for the global

ranking. The National Universities Commission (2006) pointed out that Nigerian universities were

performing poorly with regard to research in a digital dispensation because of the scant attention paid to

presenting research findings in web-searchable forms; low impact local journals without Internet links;

lack of publication in electronic journals; and the absence of Nigerian universities on the Internet (i.e. no

web addresses). Most indicators used in the rankings of universities rely, to a great extent, on applications

and the use of ICT (Mutula, 2009).

Quality of research is a function of availability of research grant, research driven academic staff, enabling

university environment where minimum workload (i.e. teaching and other administrative assignments) is

assigned to academic staff and efficient ICT system. It is worrisome that some of these conditions, as

explained earlier, are not adequately available in higher education system in Nigeria. Limited research-

strong faculty (World Bank, 2002; UNESCO, 2003; Babalola 2008), lack of research grant,

administrative workload (Jaiyeoba and Atanda, 2009) among others affect quality of research in Africa.

Issues of Quality and Relevance: The issue of quality in higher education emphasizes the proven and

potential impacts of the product of higher education institution on the various sectors of the economy. It is

pertinent to note that human resource development plays a key role in the achievement of the national

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development goals. Therefore, higher education is mostly relied upon to provide the broad array of

quality education and training for the development of the individual flexibility, adaptability and

continuous learning (Bamiro and Adedeji, 2010). It was added that the quality parameter comes in as a

measure of the extent to which higher education institutions provide the expected broad access to skills

and competencies needed to improve the match between labour supply and demand.

Of paramount importance is the extent to which the curriculum and its delivery has translated to products

meeting the demands/satisfaction of both the customers and the employer of labour. Evidence from higher

education institutions in Africa has clearly shown that there is a high degree of disconnect between the

institutions and industry in most critical areas. The country reports on higher education in Sub-Saharan

Africa revealed a weak quality of curricula and materials being delivered and are often not related to

employers’ needs thus affecting graduate employability (Bamiro, 2013).

It has been reported that graduates from higher education in most of Sub-Saharan Africa become

irrelevant at the labour market because of skill mismatch. Skill mismatch occurs when higher education

graduate acquire skills that are not demanded by the labour market. In Nigeria, the Education Sector

Status Report produced by Federal Ministry of Education in 2003 identified skill mismatch problem in

such areas as petroleum, gas, agriculture, manufacturing, solid minerals, tourism and ICT. Babalola

(2007) explained that Nigerian society has the bias for some popular courses such as Economics, Law and

Medicine which has resulted in skill mismatch. Due to this mismatch problem, it appears that higher

education in Sub-Saharan Africa has not been able to contribute to the economic development. Bloom,

Canning, and Chan, (2006) research showed that Sub-Saharan Africa’s current production level is about

23 per cent below its production possibility frontier. Meaning that, with relevant and quality higher

education, the current production level in the region is likely to improve.

Summary of Situation Analysis of the Sub-Saharan Higher Education System

The present unimpressive state of higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa could be illustrated through

SWOT analysis. The Federal Ministry of Education situation analysis of the Nigerian University System

(2007) as reported by Babalola (2008) is adapted.

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Table 7: A Situation Analysis of the Challenges facing Higher Education System in Sub-Saharan

Africa countries

Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threat

Availability of Research

and Development

Low Access Private-Public

Partnership and Open

Distance Education to

expand access

Low private sector

participation and high

cost of education

Mismatch of curricula

to respond to labour

market demand and 21st

century needs

Realignment of

curricula to labour

market needs by

involving participation

of industry

Continuous gap between

institutions and labour

market

Higher education

institutions are supply

driven

Introduction of career

counselling and

entrepreneurship

training

Low emphasis on

training and

development

Low funding and poor

resource allocation

Increases partnership

with private sector and

international agencies

Lack maintenance

culture owing to over-

admission. Lack of

management capacity

Low quality of teaching Improved teacher

training with emphasis

on practical training in

science and technology.

Pool of untapped talent

Examination

malpractices

Low output and quality

of research and

development

Decaying infrastructure

Inadequate instructional

materials

Poor quality of lecturers

Academic staff attrition

rate

Development of skills

for national

development

Improved funding and

innovation

International partnership

Available real estate and

land mass

High inelastic demand

for university education

Good network of alumni

Wider support and

involvement by the

public in university

education

Resource waste

(financial and human)

Lack of targeted or

relevant capacity

building

Specialized higher

institutions have

derailed from original

mandate

Process re-engineering Lack of regulation and

monitoring of training

relevant capacity

building

Archaic methods of

evaluation;

Dysfunctional higher

education system

Process re-engineering Perception of Nigerian

education standard;

Lack of monitoring and

evaluation

Displacement of ethics

and value.

Resuscitating ethics and

values in higher

Loss of value systems

and damaging integrity

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Lack of transparency

and accountability in

management.

Poor governance

education;

Introduction of

accountability

mechanism in

management

of education

Corruption,

malpractices and other

vices;

Poor enforcement

system;

Poor tracking and

feedback mechanism

Sources: FME (2007) Draft Education Sector Strategic Plan, Babalola (2008): Modeling Nigerian

University System for Effective Learning and Global Relevance

In view of the analysis in Table 7, it is necessary that higher education system in Sub-Saharan Africa

should formulate policies that take cognizance of various opportunities available to strengthen the

weaknesses and minimize the possible effect of the threats. The possible policy areas are discussed in the

next section.

Policy Areas for Reform in Higher Education System in Sub-Saharan Africa countries

Sub-Saharan Africa needs to consider the review of its policies on higher education system by following

principles enumerated in the World Declaration on Higher Education for the Twenty-first Century as

contained in the outcome of the 1998 World Conference on Higher Education. These principles are

explained as follows:

Access: Though the access to education means making education to be within the reach of every citizen

of the nation, the position of World Conference on Higher Education is that access to university education

shall be to all on the basis of merit. The UNESCO expects universities to base their policies on this

principle of merit-based provision. Therefore, nobody can be discriminated against because of he/she

lacks financial resources. The principle hinges on the assumption that the quality of input determines the

quality of output. Since university is the peak of formal education, it should not be for all and sundry. The

first two levels of education are considered to be basic education which may be for all and sundry.

Though the problem of excessive demand for higher education with limited spaces has been identified,

the access must not be so porous to the detriment of expected quality. While some universities have

devised stringent admission criteria and rigorous process to offer admission based on merit, there are still

some universities whose admission policies are weak in providing access. In Nigeria, most universities

now conduct another screening examination after the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination

(UTME), this screening examination is called Post UTME. The essence of the screening examination is to

authenticate initial performance of the candidates in UTME. Public and private universities should ensure

a good admission procedure that sieves most qualified applicants in line with their carrying capacities to

avoid overcrowding.

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Focus on Main Mission: The principle noted that the main mission of university educational institutions

(apart from traditional missions to educate, to undertake research and to provide services to the

community) should be to educate citizens on a permanent basis being a component of development

(cultural, social, economic and political) and a pillar of endogenous capacity-building, democracy and

peace. This calls for provision of leadership by the universities within university community. Based on

the assumption that university comprises of intellectuals who should be seen as models by the people

outside the system, leadership in the areas of governance, tolerance in inter-personal relation, societal

value system among others have to be provided. Therefore, university administration must make effort to

build capacity in this area.

Critical Function: The critical function of university should be developed through the pursuit of truth and

justice, and by exercising ethical and scientific rigour in all activities. The university is the citadel of

knowledge and must be known for the truth and justice. University system must imbibe the culture of

truth and justice in all their operations. Members and students in the system must be encouraged to follow

due process in all activities while breach of protocol should be discouraged. The truth and justice should

reflect in admission process, appointment and promotion of teaching and non-teaching staff, award of

contract, administration of research grants, research conduct, disciplinary cases and discharge of

community service.

Prospective Function: The prospective function of a university should be enhanced through the ongoing

analysis of emergent social, economic, cultural and political trends, acting as a watchtower, able to

foresee, anticipate and provide early warning, thereby playing a preventive role. According to UNESCO,

for this, universities should enjoy full academic freedom and preserve their autonomy. They must be fully

responsible and accountable to the society. For the universities in the Sub-Saharan Africa countries to

carry out this function effectively, they have to be truthful and honest in their appointment of academic

and non academic staff. It is only qualified academic staff who are experts in their various fields that

could be sensitive to emergent social, economic, cultural and political happenings in the larger

community. For instance, a specialized university like university of Agriculture should be able to forecast

issues in farming and farm produce that can help the country to take important policy in the agricultural

sector. Also, Economic department of universities should work in conjunction with the Ministry of

Finance to influence economic and monetary policies that would save the country from economic crisis.

Similarly, the Political Science department should be apt in finding solution to the country political and

electoral upheavals. The prospective function of university can only be facilitated through cordial

relationship between the university and the community or society. It is quite unfortunate that with the

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increasing number of universities in Sub-Saharan Africa countries, there still exists huge gap between

them and their communities in the area of prospective function.

Quality: Quality entails the idea of fitness for purpose, customer satisfaction, safety and value for money.

According to UNESCO, the principle of quality should embrace teaching and academic programmes,

research and scholarship, staffing, students, infrastructure and the academic environment. This implies

that universities in sub-Saharan Africa must provide adequate mechanism to ensure the quality of their

products and services. Teaching is one of the core mandates of the university and the role of teacher is

very important. Babalola (2011) attested to this when he affirmed that teachers form a very important

component in any educational system. The qualifications possess by the academic staff and experience as

well as other factors will determine the quality of teaching at the university. Therefore, universities in

Sub-Saharan Africa appointment and promotion policy must ensure appointment of qualified and

competent staff.

The quality of students is another area that should not be handled with levity. From the pool of applicants,

merit-based admission policy must be emphasized. The infrastructure in the system must also be of a

good quality and relevant. These are the furniture, hostels, lecturers’ offices, sports facilities, library,

teaching facilities among others. For example, the development of technology has resulted into

application of modern technological tools in the communication system. Hence, information and

communication technologies are expected to enhance effective dissemination of instruction in the

universities. Universities in Sub-Saharan Africa should channel their policy towards revamping their

teaching tools for better quality. For instance Maintenance of these infrastructural facilities is very critical

to the quality of their services. In addition, the maintenance department must carry out its duty as

expected.

With respect to research universities should promote innovation, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary

research. They should conduct research project that will have direct bearing on sustainable human

development. Quality and integrity of research from higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa determine

the marketability of their research output. Where these two are lacking, they undermine the academic

efforts of the universities(Atanda, 2012). Therefore, universities should be committed to internal and

external evaluation.

Students Centred: Further, students’ centred decisions should be encouraged at the university level.

Decision-makers should place students needs at the centre of their concerns and develop counselling and

guidance for item as major partners and stakeholders. It is a fact that students are central to teaching-

learning process. Though the university has three major mandates (i.e. teaching, research and community

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service), in universities that are not research-based alone students are the major stakeholders. If the

students are not in the universities other stakeholders may not have business in the university premises.

Therefore, their needs have to be given attention in the university policies. Adequate attention to students’

interest may forestall demonstration that can lead to destruction of lives and properties as well as closure

of the institutions. Such needs as students’ accommodation, students’ union, tuition fees, lecture and

examination time-tables, health services, transportation and others must be given due consideration. It

may be part of the university’s policies to hold meeting on regular basis with the students’ representative

and occasionally with the entire students. Apart from this, provision of complaint boxes in the

university’s premises for feedback from the students is important. In essence, the university

administrative climate has to be friendly to encourage students in coming closer to the university

management. At the faculty/college and class levels the students’ needs should also be the priority.

Lecturers must be friendly and ready to help the students at any time.

Choice-Based Diversifying System: The university system should be choice-based system to meet

demand and to give students the rigorous background and training required by the twenty first century.

Learners must have an optimal range of choice and the acquisition of knowledge and know-how, which

should be viewed in a lifelong perspective, based on flexible entry, transfer and exit within the system.

The curricula need to be recast to include the acquisition of skills, competences and abilities for creative

analysis and independent thinking.

Staff Development: It is only the competent staff that could help in realizing higher education goals.

Therefore, staff development should be given proper priority to update and improve teachers’ skills, with

stimulus for constant innovation in the curriculum, in teaching and in learning methods. Opportunity must

be given to staff for necessary training at home or abroad. Financial support should be provided for the

young scholars to encourage them.

Information Technologies: That, information technologies should be fully utilized and accessible to staff

and students. The literature on technology and pedagogy attests to the powerful impact ICT can make on

the teaching and learning process. The level of collaboration and communication are enhanced by the use

of computer (Knight and Knight, 1995; McGarlance, 1997; Atanda and Jaiyeoba, 2013). Further,

Gregoire, Bracewell and Lafarriere (1996) from their analysis, made a summary of the contributions

which new technologies can make to teaching and learning as follows: stimulate development of

intellectual skill; contribute to the ways of learning knowledge, skills and attitudes; spur spontaneous

interest more than traditional approaches and; stimulate students concentration more than in traditional

settings. Based on the numerous benefits in the use of ICT in knowledge creation, storing and transfer,

Babalola (2009) submitted that ICT is a necessary antecedent to development of any school system in this

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age of digital revolution. Application of ICTs should not be limited to teaching and learning alone but

other administrative process like admission, course registration, release of result, information

dissemination among others.

Relevance: There is need for relevance in university education in terms of the fit between what the

institutions do and what society expects of them. There is a need for a better harmonization between the

universities and the world of work. This will help to reduce graduates unemployment in Sub-Saharan

Africa countries. Babalola (2007) addressed the question on how institution of higher learning can

reinvent their systems to empower the youth to meet the changing needs of the economy, market and the

expectation of the society. One of the answers provided is that, institutions of higher learning should

watch changes and demands of the labour market so that they could rethink, repackage, reposition and

reengineer their missions, messages and methods in line with the changing requirements of the labour

market and those of the local communities. In addition, entrepreneurial education should be intensified.

The university curricula must seek to endow future graduates with those capacities that would enable

them to cope and survive after graduation.

Course Content: The course content should be current, accurate, representative, and appropriate to the

position of the course within the student’s programme of studies. Each university teacher should be

responsible for acquiring information relevant to a particular course. While university management is

concerned with the responsibility of ensuring relevance of university’s curricula, the lecturers handling

different courses must source for relevant materials. The university quality assurance must ensure that

university teachers develop their course outlines in line with the approved curricula.

Public Support: Public support for university education and research (being a public good) remains

essential while diversified sources of funding are necessary. Management and financing in university

should be instrumental to improving the quality and relevance of their products. They require the

appropriate planning and policy analysis, capacities and strategies, based on the co-operation and

coordination between university and responsible state authorities. Since the university is meant to serve

the community there is need for close interaction between the authorities saddled with the responsibility

in the society. This is when university will be guided in the conduct of their research to serve the public

needs.

Networking: Encouragement of networking based on mutual responsibility (sharing), recognizing and

respect should form an inherent part of quality in university education so as to reduce the exodus of

skilled human capital (brain drain). The university system should encourage collaboration between their

staff and other institutions in the same country or outside the country. Exchange progrmame or linkage

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programme whereby staff are exchanged between two universities must be encouraged. Such programme

will facilitate acquisition of additional skills and staff development.

Partnership: Partnership amongst all stakeholders (policy makers, government, the media teaching staff,

researchers, students and their families, the world of work, and community groups) is required to

introduce in-depth reform and renewal of university education.

Concluding Remarks

Today’s universities are expected to perform, more than ever before, some critical roles in the society.

The universities are being censored internally and externally. Universities in the Sub-Saharan African

countries are being compared with other institutions across the globe. Every university in the world is

competing for a scholarly space on the global map of world-class institutions. Babalola and Atinmo

(2009) submitted that each university and its sub-systems are expected to quickly fashion out practical

strategies to empower their people to move the institution towards becoming a world-class university. The

world-class university is characterized by having a world view of teaching, research and community

services. It is expected to explore windows of opportunities, nurture learning and research culture, which

is driven by collegiality and aspiration to housing lead scholars, teachers and students through the use of

face-to-face, open and distance models as shown in Table 8.

Table 8: Features of a world-class university

Code Critical Description

W World View Based on the belief that to be inward looking is to stifle academic and

intellectual growth, it is imperative for a world-class university to

progressively and vigorously keep abreast with the development in the

world to boost self-images of such institutions

O Opportunity In this connection, a world-class university seeks and explores every

opportunity to forge networking with other universities and research

institutions of the world. The close collaborations in terms of research

and teaching will certainly bring about a win-win situation; it is

synergistic in nature

R Research Culture Doing cutting edge basic and applied research is a norm in a world-

class university. Excellence in terms of publications, patents and

citations is the hallmark of a world-class university.

L Learning Culture All world-class universities have traditionally a pervasive learning

culture among their campus communities. In such environment learning

is venerated and knowledge reigns supreme

D Drive (Ambition) A World-class university constantly pushes itself to scale greater

heights such as increasing the number of Nobel laureates among its

rank of professors

C Collegiality and

Cohesiveness

Research needs concerted effort from the top professors to the

technicians. Anecdotal reports of resentment, estrangement and

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bickering could be present but this type of cases should be isolated.

Collegiality, including faculty participation in the university affairs,

especially in the admission of students, curricula, degree requirements,

and faculty appointments and promotions.

L Lead Scholars These are the life blood of a world-class university. They provide vital

academic leadership. World-class universities have a coterie of

prominent scholars who are also recipients of prestigious awards such

as the coveted Nobel Prizes and Field Medals

A Aspiration This is another hallmark of a world-class university. High aspiration

will propel an institution to achieve greater success. The high aspiration

is often reflected in the mission and vision statements of a university

S Size (Mega university) This is another important aspects of a world-class university, in terms

of students’ enrolment, staff (academic and non-academics) strength

and available infrastructural facilities.

S Service Delivery This has to do with the impact of the university on the immediate

society and the world at large, in terms of contributions to economic

and all round development.

Sources: Babalola and Atinmo (2009), Oni, A.A. & Alade, I.A(2008), Wasser. (2001), Cabal (1993)

This paper has been able to show that in Sub-Saharan Africa, the quality of higher education remains low

compared to the continent’s development needs and what are obtainable in other continents. This situation

hinders growth and undermines the foundation for sustainable development in the region. Due to the fact

that skills for the knowledge economy are built at the higher education level, reinventing and resuscitating

higher education systems should be high on Sub-Saharan Africa’s development agenda. Policy makers

must ensure that higher education system attain world-class status to inculcate the skills to compete,

innovate, and respond to complex social, environmental, and economical situations for sustainable

development in the region.

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