Best 20 Universities in Africa – U.S. News World Report

University of Cape Town in South Africa is the best University in Africa according to U.S. News World Report.

U.S. News World Report, the global authority in education rankings, today published the 2020 edition of the Best Global Universities rankings. In the most comprehensive assessment of research universities worldwide, the new edition evaluates 1,500 schools – up from 1,250 last year – on academic research and reputation.

The top 10 schools in the overall ranking are all found in either the U.S. or the United Kingdom. Harvard University remains at No. 1, followed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University and the University of California—Berkeley at No. 2, 3 and 4, respectively. The University of Oxford rounds out the top five.

The new edition evaluates schools in 81 countries – up from 75 last year. In Africa, South Africa has the most universities in the Top 20 rank with 8 Universities, they are closely followed by Egypt (4 Universities) and Morocco (3 Universities)

2020 U.S. News World Report Best 20 Universities in Africa

University of Cape Town (South Africa)

Africa Rank – 1
World Rank – 121
Best Global Universities – 67.3

University of Witwatersrand (South Africa)

Africa Rank – 2
World Rank – 200 (tied)
Score – 61.8

Stellenbosch University (South Africa)

Africa Rank – 3
World Rank – 329 (tied)
Score – 55.6

University of KwaZulu Natal (South Africa)

Africa Rank – 4
World Rank – 338 (tied)
Score – 55.1

University of Johannesburg (South Africa)

Africa Rank – 5
World Rank – 366 (tied)
Score – 54

Cairo University – Egypt

Africa Rank – 6
World Rank – 434 (tied)
Score – 51.1

University of Pretoria (South Africa)

Africa Rank – 7
World Rank – 441 (tied)
Score – 51

University of Casablanca Hassan 2 – Morocco

Africa Rank – 8
World Rank – 557 (tied)
Score – 46.9

Makerere University – Uganda

Africa Rank – 9
World Rank – 611 (tied)
Score – 45.2

Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia

Africa Rank – 10
World Rank – 618
Score – 45

North West University – South Africa

Africa Rank – 11
World Rank – 645 (tied)
Score – 44.3

Mansoura University (Egypt)

Africa Rank – 12
World Rank – 663 (tied)
Score – 43.7

Ain Shams University (Egypt)

Africa Rank – 13
World Rank – 667 (tied)
Score – 43.6

Kwame Nkrumah University Science & Technology (Ghana)

Africa Rank – 14
World Rank – 706 (tied)
Score – 42.4

Mohammed V University (Morocco)

Africa Rank – 15
World Rank – 715 (tied)
Score – 42.2

University of the Western Cape (South Africa)

Africa Rank – 16
World Rank – 722 (tied)
Score – 42

University of Ibadan (Nigeria)

Africa Rank – 17
World Rank – 733 (tied)
Score – 41.6

University of Marrakech Cadi Ayyad (Morocco)

Africa Rank – 18
World Rank – 750 (tied)
Score – 40.7

Alexandria University (Egypt)

Africa Rank – 19
World Rank – 778 (tied)
Score – 40

University of Nairobi (Kenya)

Africa Rank – 20
World Rank – 867
Score – 37.1

Methodology

Based on Web of Science data and InCites metrics provided by the Web of Science Group, the Best Global Universities methodology weighs factors that measure a university’s global and regional research reputation and academic research performance. For the overall rankings, this includes bibliometric indicators such as publications, citations and international collaboration. Each subject ranking has its own methodology based on academic research performance and reputation in that specific area.