A network of African universities, working together to improve student outcomes.
The scale and speed of change higher education in Africa needs is more than any one institution can deliver alone. It calls for a collective — with a shared agenda, mutual accountability, and a steady commitment to students.
What began as an annual gathering at Ashesi University is now a year-round network of African universities and colleges. Organized through regional hubs and led by exemplary institutions, the Collaborative helps every member shape proven models to its own cultural and regulatory context — keeping the focus, always, on what students achieve.
Our mission
We use collaboration and mentorship to build a network of institutions that hold one another to a high standard: excellent, measurable student outcomes across Africa.
Our vision
By 2030, more than 1.1 million students graduate as ethical, entrepreneurial leaders — people who create jobs and help lead economies.
Leadership and Governance
The secretariat hosted at Ashesi and the member institutions that steer the network through the hubs.
Learn more →Regional Hubs & Members
Three hubs — West, East, and Southern Africa — each owned and led by the institutions within it.
Learn more →University Rankings
The Africa Higher Education Rankings — an African-led program that recognizes what truly drives progress, measured against each institution’s mission and the lives it changes.
Learn more →
Our History
Ashesi University was founded to set an example for effectively educating ethical, entrepreneurial leaders in Africa. It grew to reach thousands of students; yet Africa’s students number in the tens of millions. So in 2017 Ashesi invited peer institutions to Berekuso for the first Education Collaborative gathering. The goal: universities learning from one another, openly, and setting common goals for student outcomes.
What began as an annual convening is now a strong network, organized through regional hubs championed by exemplary institutions so that every innovation is shaped to its context.
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2026
Southern Africa Hub launches
The Southern Africa Hub launches, hosted by the University of Cape Town in South Africa.
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2026
A continent-wide rhythm
Three regional convenings in one year: the Southern Africa Hub’s first gathering in January, the West Africa Hub in Lomé in March, and the East Africa Hub’s fourth edition in Nairobi in October.
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2026
Systems Change Program takes off at the University of Rwanda
After an 18-month Systems Change Program and learning visits to Ashesi and the University of Cape Coast, the University of Rwanda redesigns its career and academic support systems, reaching a full undergraduate cohort of ~32,000 students.
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2026
Phase Three begins
The Education Collaborative's strategy enters Phase Three: deepening value for exemplar members and amplifying a unified voice on global policy and research platforms.
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2026
500,000 students reached
The network reaches a 500,000-student milestone, across 62 member institutions, with 700+ educators engaged.
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2026
Nairobi, Kenya
The 2026 East Africa Hub Convening will explore how institutions can reimagine student success through sustainable, inclusive, and technology-enabled campuses. Within the context of rapid digital change, shifting workforce demands, and growing student diversity, participants will share ideas and approaches for keeping students at the heart of institutional innovation, learning, and decision-making across East Africa.
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2025
Work begins on an independent African ranking
Education Collaborative begins work to create an independently governed African Higher Education Ranking.
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2025
The June Convening recenters students
Institutions meet to put student success at the center of their work, leaving with bold commitments to reimagine the student experience.
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2025
The network grows to 46 members
The network grows to 46 member institutions while engaging over 500 institutions across the continent, and begins formalizing its learnings into guidebooks, toolkits, and research.
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2024
The West Africa Hub finds its rhythm
The West Africa Hub hosts its inaugural convening, bringing the region's institutions together around graduate employability, entrepreneurship, and tech-enabled student success. A second regional hub begins a rhythm of its own, in the years between June Convenings.
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2024
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
The third East Africa Hub Convening brought together 98 participants from 12 countries, representing 27 higher education institutions and 11 non-academic organizations. Under the theme “Africa’s Educational Renaissance: Collaborative Strategies for Resilient Learning Systems in the 21st Century,” participants connected across institutions and sectors to share practices, explore emerging challenges, and consider collaborative approaches to strengthening education systems across Africa.
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2023
Two convenings in one year
The whole network gathers for the June Convening, and the East Africa Hub hosts its inaugural convening — championing entrepreneurship and graduate employability across the region. For the first time, the network meets twice in a single year.
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2023
The ranking initiative comes to life
Education Collaborative’s ranking initiative comes to life through Times Higher Education, in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation. The Sub-Saharan Africa Rankings piloted in 2023 and 2024.
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2023
Kampala, Uganda
Themed, “Accelerating Entrepreneurship and Graduate Employability” the East Africa Hub’s second convening brought together 88 university executives, policymakers, administrators, and industry professionals representing 10 countries and 40 institutions together to explore how higher education can strengthen entrepreneurship and graduate employability for regional development.
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2022
The first hybrid Annual Convening
The network hosts 200+ participants at its first hybrid Annual Convening in Accra and deepens engagement in Francophone Africa through a regional meeting in Niamey.
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2022
The first hybrid convening
More than 200 participants gather in Accra, in person and online, working across all four areas of collaboration. The West Africa Hub launches.
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2022
150,000 students reached
By the end of 2022, the network has reached approximately 150,000 students since 2017, working through employability, entrepreneurship, and ethical-leadership programs under Phase I of its strategy.
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2022
A 2030 target takes shape
The network sets a clear north star: a 140-member network serving at least one million students by 2030.
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2022
Kigali, Rwanda
The Education Collaborative’s inaugural East Africa Hub convening brought together 76 higher education executives, administrators, and regulators in Kigali, Rwanda, to explore how institutions could improve educational outcomes and strengthen the quality of higher education across East Africa.
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2022
West Africa Hub launches
The West Africa Hub launches with 9 institutions, hosted by Pan-Atlantic University in Nigeria.
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2021
The network goes virtual
The first full June Convening is held online — an opening plenary, ideation sprints, and speaker sessions. The East Africa Hub launches the same year.
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2021
East Africa Hub launches
The East Africa Hub launches with 8 institutions, hosted by Kepler College in Rwanda.
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2017
The first gathering
Ashesi convenes a small group of African universities in Berekuso to teach one another what works. The idea that becomes The Education Collaborative starts here.
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2017
The Collaborative begins
The first Education Collaborative gathering convenes at Ashesi University, bringing peer institutions together to share what works and adapt it to their own contexts.
Our hubs are led by exemplary institutions.
Leadership commitment
Leaders are personally committed to scaling transformation beyond their own campus.
Strong teams
Depth across academic, operational, and administrative units.
Good governance
A keen sense of governance and financial sustainability, with little reputational risk.
Peer credibility
Trusted and influential among peer institutions in the region.
Full accreditation
Meets every accreditation requirement in its country of operation.
Evidence of outcomes
Demonstrates strong career outcomes for students and alumni, with evidence.
The reach of the network
Our reach grows with every institution that joins — extending proven practice to more campuses, more countries, and more students across Africa.
Formal Members by Region
Bring your institution's experiences into the network.
Membership is open to African universities and colleges committed to deep collaboration.