QS World University Rankings: Sub-Saharan Africa 2026

University of Cape Town is the best university in Sub-Saharan Africa in our first-ever ranking for this region, one of 69 institutions to be included this year.

As well as strong performances from South African universities, five other study destinations are represented in the top 20 including Ghana and Nigeria. The University of Ghana and the University of Ibadan are the highest-ranked universities in those two countries.

The diverse range of high-performing universities helps demonstrate that strong performance is not confined to a single country in Sub-Saharan Africa and that different higher education systems and contexts can produce success and be an attractive study destination.