- The University of Cape Town is the Best University in Africa in 2025
- The list of the Best of Universities in Africa is courtesy of QS World University Rankings.
The QS World University Rankings have highlighted 40 best universities in Africa in 2025, showcasing their academic performance and reputation based on a set of metrics, including research and discovery, learning experience, employability, global engagement, and sustainability.
South African universities continue to dominate the list of the best universities in Africa, indicating top-level excellence and reputation, thus producing the best academic talents and skills on the continent and beyond its borders.
At least six South African universities dominated the top ten list of the best universities in Africa: the University of Cape Town, the University of Witswatersrand, Stellenbosch University, the University of Johannesburg, the University of Pretoria, and the University of Kwazulu-Natal.
Three Egyptian universities: Cairo University, The American University of Cairo, and Ain Shams University in Cairo made it to the list of the best universities in Africa by QS Rankings in 2025, the only North African country.
Additionally, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, got the list slot in the top ten rankings, making it the only Eastern African country, while the rest appeared on the top 20 list.
The University of Cape Town is the best university in Africa in 2025, ranked 171st overall with a score of 50. It has the best research and discovery reputation, having scored 45.2 and 46.8 on both academic reputation and citations per faculty, respectively.
Similarly, Cape Town University scored the bottom-of-chain on learning experience compared to other universities, recording 13 on the faculty-student ratio. It, however, recorded a stellar performance on employerability, scoring 51.8 on employer reputation and 95.8 on employment outcomes.
The University of Witswatersrand is the second-best higher learning institution in Africa, according to QS. Located in South Africa’s rich suburb, Johannesburg, it is ranked 267th, with an overall score of 38.7. The University of Witswatersrand has a higher employability rate: 42.1 in employer reputation and 98.9 in employment outcomes.
The South African universities, Stellenbosch University and Johannesburg University, are ranked 296th and 312th with overall scores of 36.7 and 35, respectively.
Johannesburg University has the best global engagement, scoring 54.1 on international student ratio, 98 on international research network, and 96.5 on international faculty ratio. Stellenbosch University has its best performance on international research network, scoring 94.8.
Egyptian, Giza-based university, University of Cairo, is ranked 4th in Africa and 350 overall, with a score of 32.5. It also boasts an excellent performance on employability, scoring well on employer reputation (41) and employment outcomes (95.5).
