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QS Quacquarelli Symonds, global higher education analysts, have today released the QS World University Rankings 2026 *, evaluating over 1,500 universities across 106 countries. This year, Africa sees a blend of progress and stagnation, with North African and Sub-Saharan African universities grappling with challenges in reputation, research, and internationalisation as global peers surge ahead.
* The link will be updated with the 2026 results when the embargo is lifted and the full results for Africa are in the appendix of this release
North Africa: Egypt Leads, Libya enters for the first time
North Africa is represented by 28 universities, up from 21 last year. Egypt spearheads the region’s progress, contributing five new institutions to the rankings. Cairo University remains the top-ranked in North Africa and fifth on the continent, rising to joint 347th, while The American University in Cairo enters the top 400 for the first time since 2020, now ranked =381st.
Notable developments include:
However, structural challenges remain. 21 of 27 North African institutions rank outside the global top 500 for Employment Outcomes, and none are in the top 800 for Citations per Faculty, a key research indicator.
Sub-Saharan Africa: South Africa dominates
Only three Sub-Saharan universities improved their overall positions this year, with South Africa again leading regional representation at 11 institutions. The University of Cape Town climbs to 150th, making it the highest-ranked in both the Sub-Saharan region and the African continent.
Key points:
Despite strong historic performance in Employment Outcomes, only two Sub-Saharan African universities improved in this metric in 2026.
|
Top 15 Universities in Africa in 2026 QS World University Rankings |
||||
|
Rank in Africa |
2026 Rank |
2025 Rank |
Institution |
Location |
|
1 |
150 |
171 |
University of Cape Town |
South Africa |
|
2 |
291 |
=267 |
University of The Witwatersrand |
South Africa |
|
3 |
302 |
296 |
Stellenbosch University |
South Africa |
|
4 |
=308 |
=312 |
University of Johannesburg |
South Africa |
|
5 |
=347 |
=350 |
Cairo University |
Egypt |
|
6 |
=362 |
354 |
University of Pretoria |
South Africa |
|
7 |
=381 |
=410 |
The American University in Cairo |
Egypt |
|
8 |
=542 |
=592 |
Ain Shams University |
Egypt |
|
9 |
=558 |
=587 |
University of Kwazulu-Natal |
South Africa |
|
10 |
731-740 |
771-780 |
Université de Tunis El Manar |
Tunisia |
|
11 |
781-790 |
801-850 |
Alexandria University |
Egypt |
|
12 |
851-900 |
851-900 |
University of Ghana |
Ghana |
|
12 |
851-900 |
771-780 |
Addis Ababa University |
Ethiopia |
|
14 |
901-950 |
901-950 |
Future University in Egypt |
Egypt |
|
14 |
901-950 |
851-900 |
University of South Africa |
South Africa |
Ben Sowter, QS Senior Vice President, said:
“Egypt’s expansion in the rankings—adding five new universities—is a remarkable sign of momentum in North Africa. Meanwhile, South Africa remains the anchor of Sub-Saharan higher education, though the region as a whole must take steps to remain globally competitive.”
“Universities across Africa must invest in research, enhance employability, and pursue international collaborations if they’re to keep pace with increasingly competitive global systems.”
|
African countries performance in 2026 QS World University Rankings |
||||||||
|
Country |
No HEi ranked |
No of HEi with lower YoY rank |
Lower % |
No of HEi with same YoY rank |
Same % |
No of HEi with higher YoY rank |
Higher % |
New |
|
Egypt |
20 |
2 |
13% |
9 |
60% |
4 |
27% |
5 |
|
South Africa |
11 |
6 |
55% |
2 |
18% |
3 |
27% |
0 |
|
Tunisia |
4 |
2 |
50% |
1 |
25% |
1 |
25% |
0 |
|
Nigeria |
3 |
0 |
0% |
2 |
100% |
0 |
0% |
1 |
|
Morocco |
2 |
1 |
100% |
0 |
0% |
0 |
0% |
1 |
|
Ghana |
2 |
0 |
0% |
2 |
100% |
0 |
0% |
0 |
|
Libya |
1 |
0 |
|
0 |
|
0 |
|
1 |
|
Uganda |
1 |
1 |
100% |
0 |
0% |
0 |
0% |
0 |
|
Ethiopia |
1 |
1 |
100% |
0 |
0% |
0 |
0% |
0 |
|
Sudan |
1 |
1 |
100% |
0 |
0% |
0 |
0% |
0 |
|
Kenya |
1 |
1 |
100% |
0 |
0% |
0 |
0% |
0 |
Average scores per indicator
While South Africa ranks top overall in the International Research Network indicator, with an average score of 91.1. Strong rankings for Cairo University and The American University in Cairo push up Egypt’s average score this indicator.
|
Location |
No HEi ranked |
Academic Reputation Score |
Employer Reputation Score |
Faculty Student Ratio Score |
Citations Per Faculty Score |
Int’l Faculty Ratio Score |
Int’l Students Ratio Score |
Int’l Research Network Score |
Employment Outcomes Score |
Sustainability Score |
Overall Score |
|
Global average |
1,500+ |
20.8 |
21.5 |
34.7 |
21.6 |
36.3 |
29.3 |
47.2 |
41.5 |
44.1 |
25.7 |
|
South Africa |
11 |
23.3 |
28.1 |
11.8 |
36.1 |
50.3 |
18.9 |
91.1 |
66.4 |
61.8 |
32.3 |
|
Ethiopia |
1 |
7.8 |
12.1 |
65.3 |
2.5 |
63.8 |
96.9 |
41.7 |
19.9 |
||
|
Kenya |
1 |
12.8 |
13.7 |
25.7 |
2.6 |
48.7 |
95.6 |
39.1 |
16.6 |
||
|
Uganda |
1 |
13.4 |
5.3 |
5.8 |
6.5 |
8.3 |
13.6 |
65.3 |
98.3 |
42.0 |
16.5 |
|
Ghana |
2 |
14.0 |
10.8 |
4.1 |
7.4 |
8.1 |
1.8 |
73.4 |
73.4 |
47.6 |
16.1 |
|
Egypt |
20 |
17.7 |
17.7 |
17.4 |
5.1 |
12.5 |
9.9 |
53.7 |
20.8 |
41.3 |
16.1 |
|
Tunisia |
4 |
11.2 |
5.0 |
44.1 |
5.3 |
16.7 |
7.2 |
48.9 |
35.7 |
45.0 |
15.7 |
|
Nigeria |
3 |
9.1 |
14.2 |
6.3 |
4.9 |
2.0 |
1.4 |
51.6 |
82.5 |
35.5 |
13.3 |
|
Sudan |
1 |
8.9 |
6.9 |
8.2 |
5.1 |
2.1 |
53.5 |
84.9 |
23.3 |
12.1 |
|
|
Morocco |
2 |
9.7 |
3.1 |
2.0 |
10.8 |
15.9 |
5.0 |
52.1 |
40.4 |
39.7 |
11.7 |
|
Libya |
1 |
6.8 |
12.8 |
8.6 |
1.3 |
1.2 |
3.4 |
30.6 |
28.7 |
11.2 |
7 |
Employment & Research: The core challenges
North Africa:
Sub-Saharan Africa:
Global context: a competitive landscape
The QS World University Rankings 2026 evaluates 1,500+ institutions across 106 countries and territories. Global competition is intensifying, particularly across Europe, North America, and Asia:
|
QS World University Rankings 2026: Top 10 |
|||
|
2026 Rank? |
2025 Rank? |
Institution?? |
Location?? |
|
1? |
1? |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)?? |
United States of America?? |
|
2? |
2? |
Imperial College London?? |
United Kingdom?? |
|
3? |
6? |
Stanford University?? |
United States of America?? |
|
4? |
3? |
University of Oxford?? |
United Kingdom?? |
|
5? |
4? |
Harvard University?? |
United States of America?? |
|
6? |
5? |
University of Cambridge?? |
United Kingdom?? |
|
7? |
7? |
ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology)?? |
Switzerland?? |
|
8? |
8? |
National University of Singapore (NUS)?? |
Singapore?? |
|
9? |
9? |
UCL (University College London)?? |
United Kingdom?? |
|
10? |
10? |
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)?? |
United States of America?? |
These shifts underscore the growing importance of international visibility, talent attraction, and cross-border collaboration, areas where Czech universities must now focus to remain competitive.
The QS World University Rankings 2026 is based on a weighted index of indicators listed below.
For further details, visit the QS methodology page.
|
Lens |
Weighting |
Indicator |
Weighting |
|
50% |
30% |
||
|
20% |
|||
|
20% |
15% |
||
|
5% |
|||
|
15% |
5% |
||
|
5% |
|||
|
0% |
|||
|
5% |
|||
|
10% |
10% |
||
|
Sustainability |
5% |
5% |
The full QS World University Rankings 2026 will be published as the embargo lifts on Thursday 19 June at 02:01 EEST and will be available at www.topuniversities.com/world-university-rankings.
