Internationalization in Africa is often aligned with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and the African Union’s Agenda 2063, emphasizing the significance of this approach in achieving broader societal goals.
Internationalization in Africa is often aligned with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and the African Union’s Agenda 2063, emphasizing the significance of this approach in achieving broader societal goals.
Dr. Teboho Moja, speaking at the conference “Negotiating the Fabric of the African University,” underscored the pivotal role of internationalization in the strategies of African universities. Internationalization enables these institutions to expand their global reach, enrich educational offerings and engage in collaborative knowledge production.
Alignment with Sustainable Development Goals
Furthermore, internationalization efforts in Africa often align with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and the African Union’s Agenda 2063. This alignment highlights the broader societal goals that internationalization endeavors seek to achieve.
On Sept. 13, 2023 scholars from diverse backgrounds convened at the University of Cape Town for an academic dialogue organized by the Institute for Humanities in Africa. The discussion centered on how African universities are responding to the global push for standardization in higher education models.
Perspective on African universities
Dr. Moja’s lecture emphasized three key aspects: internationalization and collaboration within the African context, evolving operational models driven by innovations in teaching, research and community engagement, and strategies employed by universities to address funding challenges.
She highlighted that African universities actively contribute to achieving socio-economic, environmental, and cultural objectives. By aligning their efforts with national, regional, and global development agendas, they effectively address the unique challenges facing the continent and play a crucial role in its sustainable development.
Reevaluating identity of African universities
During the conference, Associate Professor Kasturi Behari-Leak, the dean of the Centre for Higher Education Development at UCT, posed a fundamental question: “Is this a university in Africa, or an African university?” This inquiry underscores the significance of reevaluating aspects such as heritage, the core purpose of a university, the structure of learning and the colonial perspective.
Daniel Munene from UCT’s Commerce Education Development Unit shared the journey of integrating kiSwahili as a language of study at UCT. This development, partly stemming from discussions around decoloniality in 2015 and 2016, illustrates the dynamic nature of higher education.
Azeem Badroodien, the director of the School of Education at UCT, emphasized that higher education is dynamic and constantly evolving. It exists in a place of conflict, not in an ivory tower.
University as a space of protest
In her presentation, Professor Shose Kessi, the dean of the Faculty of Humanities, highlighted the university as a space of protest. She discussed how challenges to coloniality emerged both in Africa and the United States during the civil rights movement. She also addressed the adverse effects of the commodification of higher education.
Dr. Moja, a professor of higher education at New York University, a professor at the University of the Western Cape, and a visiting research fellow at the University of Pretoria, concluded by emphasizing that despite the challenges, universities in Africa are actively initiating transformative changes.
