African universities: Weakness threatens standards despite digital transformation

Written by: Ayman Ragab

Digital transformation dynamics are affecting almost all sectors in Africa, and in the education sector, initiatives to modernize universities and provide more conducive learning environments for students are increasing.

In Benin, the Council of Ministers on Wednesday, July 1st, approved the signing of contracts with several service providers for the distance learning project for the country's four public universities. Starting from the 2026-2027 academic year, these universities will be equipped with dedicated lecture halls, a national distance learning platform (etudiant.bj), and audiovisual recording studios.

The goal is to ensure that every student, regardless of their geographic location, has equal opportunities to receive a quality education. The decision issued in Benin exemplifies a broader trend, as universities across Africa are progressively digitizing their services and educational practices to become more accessible.

Increasing digital administrative services

Digital transformation first affects what takes up most of students' time: the registration process. In Benin, the University of Abomey-Calavi has made online registration and re-registration possible starting with the 2024-2025 academic year, putting an end to the long queues that characterized the start of the school year.

The same logic prevails in Senegal, where Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar has focused on submitting admission applications through dedicated platforms since August 2024, and in Algeria, where the national PROGRES system (Progiciel de gestion de la recherche et de l’enseignement supérieur – Software for managing research and higher education) consolidates pre-registration, confirmations, and fee payments on a single portal.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the next step has already been taken. The universities of Kinshasa and Lubumbashi rely on OptSolution to manage the entire online registration process. To the east, the University of Nairobi in Kenya offers a more integrated example: its Student Management Information System (SMIS) portal brings together, at a single access point, payment of fees via M-Pesa service or bank transfer, viewing of exam results, academic records, and housing applications.

What Kenya has built is not so much a registration platform as a single digital administrative portal, a level that only a few African universities have reached so far.

From Certificate Management to Fraud Prevention

Digital transformation is not limited to routine administrative services. In July 2025, the Democratic Republic of Congo launched the “e-Diplôme” platform, a public platform based on blockchain technology, which allows for instant verification of the authenticity of official certificates using a QR code. The driving force behind this initiative is clear: combating document forgery, a structural problem that undermines confidence in academic certificates awarded across the continent.

Many French-speaking universities that are members of the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF) are adopting the same approach, using the blockchain-based BCdiploma to certify their degrees. This initiative is part of a broader trend that has been accelerated by the COVID-19 crisis. Between 2020 and 2021, university closures forced an urgent digital transformation across Africa.

The African Union itself acknowledges that member states were not prepared, as many of them were forced to rely on radio and television to maintain a minimum level of educational continuity; universities that had already begun the transition process before the pandemic, however, fared better. For example, the University of Cape Town has maintained 95% of its courses online since the first lockdown.

Operational efficiency is a third factor: In Abomey-Calavi, the discontinuation of physical registrations was initially justified by reducing waiting lines and file processing times, before being extended to other services.

Transformation under budget constraints

However, this modernization faces a fundamental financial challenge, as the funding gap for education in Africa exceeds 40% of the estimated annual needs, with an annual requirement of 183 billion U.S. dollars compared to the 106 billion U.S. dollars available, and higher education is not the hardest-hit sector, as it receives, on average, 20% of national education budgets, compared to only 2% for preschool education.

However, the digitization of universities is progressing at a faster pace through targeted international funding, rather than through dedicated national efforts. The World Bank's Centers of Excellence in Higher Education program has enabled the establishment of over 80 centers in 20 sub-Saharan African countries, many of which focus on information technology.

Digital transformation in Africa still lags far behind that of the most advanced academic institutions. Arizona State University in the United States has created a digital replica of its campus, largely designed by its students, which is used as a real-time planning tool for energy management and space planning. The university has also adopted a blockchain-based infrastructure for certificate management and offers an interactive virtual environment that allows remote and on-campus students to interact during live lectures.

This level of development remains out of reach for most African universities, but that does not mean that Western universities have completed their transformation either. According to the Digital Education Council, 86% of students use artificial intelligence in their academic studies, yet 80% of them feel that the integration of artificial intelligence at their universities falls short of their expectations.

The digital transformation of higher education is an ongoing endeavor everywhere, but it is passing through completely different stages depending on the continent.

Things to pay attention to

The path is underway, but two questions remain. The first is about the pace: the initiatives identified, from distance learning in Benin to blockchain certifications in Congo, show that African countries are progressing on several fronts simultaneously, but unevenly depending on regions and available resources.

The second matter concerns the associated risks: the more a university digitizes its services and data, the more it is exposed to cyber threats, a situation that was revealed last June with the data of 450,000 students and graduates from the University of Nottingham in the UK.

In addition to infrastructure and platforms, the success of this transformation will also depend on the ability of universities to support faculty and students in adopting new tools. Digitalization will only achieve sustainable gains if coupled with investments in skills, system maintenance, and reliable access to electricity and the internet.

Therefore, the challenge in Africa in the coming years will be to scale up digital solutions and ensure their sustainability, security, and effective widespread use.. Source: ecofin