South African universities take seven places in sub-Saharan Africa’s top 10

South African universities dominated the top positions in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2027 for sub-Saharan Africa, with seven institutions appearing among the region’s top 10. The University of Cape Town retained the leading position in Africa in the ranking, rising to joint 147th globally from joint 164th in the 2026 edition. It was the only sub-Saharan African university in the global top 200.

The rankings, released on Wednesday, assessed 2,297 universities across 118 countries and territories. The regional comparison covers sub-Saharan Africa and excludes universities in northern parts of the continent. The University of the Witwatersrand placed second in sub-Saharan Africa, in the global 301–325 band.

Stellenbosch University followed at 326–350, while the University of Johannesburg ranked fourth at 351–375. The University of Pretoria was placed in the 451–500 band, followed by the University of KwaZulu-Natal at 501–550 and the University of the Western Cape at 701–800. Covenant University of Nigeria shared eighth place with Uganda’s Makerere University and South Africa’s North-West University, with all three in the 801–1,000 band.

Nigeria nevertheless had the largest national representation in the regional ranking, with 29 universities included. The University of Ibadan and the University of Lagos were among other Nigerian institutions in the 801–1,000 global band. Sub-Saharan Africa’s representation increased to 69 institutions from 16 countries, compared with 55 universities in the previous edition.

Covenant University improved from the 1,001–1,200 band in 2026 to 801–1,000. Times Higher Education said the ranking assesses teaching, research environment, research quality, international outlook and industry. Its 18 indicators include teaching reputation, research output, citations, international collaboration, industry income and patents.