University of Nairobi ranked 7th best in Africa
What you need to know:
- Oldest institution listed among continent’s top 10 as Strathmore beats local private varsities.
- Survey considered online visibility and relevance of courses.
The University of Nairobi has been ranked the seventh best in Africa.
It is the only Kenyan one in the continent’s top 10 list in the ranking published by Spanish Research firm Webometrics.
Kenyatta University is at number 38, the second highest ranking in Kenya, while Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology is at position 44.
The other public universities ranked were Egerton at number 60, Moi University at 65 and Strathmore at 74.
In the private category, Strathmore emerged the best in Kenya. It was followed by African Virtual University, Mount Kenya, which improved from position 10 in the previous year, KCA and Kabarak.
Old institutions like Daystar, Catholic University of Eastern Africa and Nazarene have been edged out by the newly established ones.
South Africa’s University of Cape Town, Stellenbosch University and University of Pretoria took the top three positions in the continent.
THE OTHERS
The others are University of Cape Town, University of Witwatersrand, Cairo University, University of Kwazulu Natal, University of Western Cape, American University in Cairo and University of South Africa.
Out of the top best African universities, seven are South African and two are in Egypt.
Globally, Africa did not produce any university in the top 100, raising questions over its competitiveness in the world education stage.
American universities were the top performers, scooping the first 14 positions. Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, University of California Berkley and Cornell University took the top five slots.
Others in the top 10 list globally are University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, University of Washington, University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University of New York.
RELEVANCE OF COURSES
Webometrics considered the volume of research undertaken by a university, its online visibility and the economic and job market relevance of the courses the institutions offer.
Web presence, according to the organisation, is the mirror of a university’s performance.
“Web is key for the future of all the university’s missions as it is already the most important scholarly communication tool, the future channel for the off-campus distance learning and a university show case for attracting talent, funding and resources,” Webometrics says on its website, www.webometrics.info, where the ranking was posted.
