Abstract:
African universities have played a crucial role in the development of their nations, by educating the political and professional elites and by contributing to the creation of a new national identity in the post-colonial era.  However, the universities' achievements have not been fully satisfactory. They have particularly disappointed politicians in their own societies and donor organizations in other parts of the world.  It is also generally acknowledged that the quality of university education in the region has declined significantly over the past decade.  Universities are confronted with numerous institutional problems, some with external causes and others resulting from internal factors.  The primary external causes of this situation lie in the sharp increase in student numbers resulting from demographic and socio-economic developments, lack of equipment, the loss of well-qualified staff (brain drain) and, most of all, the absence of sufficient funding.  Internal factors include organization and management, institutional profiles, and general strategy.

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Teekens, Hanneke; Jongbloed, Ben (2000). The role and mission of the university in African society. In Ben Jongbloed and Hanneke Teekens (eds) The financing of higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa Utrecht, The Netherlands: Center for Higher Education Policy Studies, 3-12