Despite a spectacular expansion of the higher education sector in Sub-Saharan Africa, the supply of tertiary education has generally failed to keep pace with demand, and the region continues to lag behind all other regions in terms of access to tertiary education. This is in part a consequence of deeply entrenched patterns of inequitable access to higher education, and the perpetuation of what researchers refer to as “elite systems.†? To date, access to tertiary education in Sub-Saharan Africa has unduly benefited students drawn from the region’s wealthiest households, and overall enrollment remains disproportionately male and metropolitan. These factors stifle the catalytic potential of higher education, corroding its potential for driving economic growth and sustaining poverty reduction. Instead, patterns of access to tertiary education have generally reinforced and reproduced social inequality, instead of eroding its pernicious social and economic effects. Sharing Higher Education’s Promise beyond the Few in Sub-Saharan Africa aims to inform an improved understanding of equity in tertiary enrollment in Sub-Saharan African countries and to examine the extent to which inequity functions as a bottleneck, inhibiting the ability of African universities to effectively drive improvements in overall quality of life and economic competitiveness. In our survey of the evidence, we also aim to identify which policies most effectively address the challenge of promoting equity of access in Sub-Saharan African tertiary education systems. To achieve these objectives, the book collects, generates, and analyzes empirical evidence on patterns of equity; examines the underlying causes of inequity; and evaluates government policies for addressing inequity.

Despite a low enrollment rate in higher education of 3 percent on average, in comparison with 8 percent in countries with comparable levels of development, Francophone African countries are currently facing an immense challenge in terms of numbers. The increased social demand associated with the progress made in universal primary enrollment and the increase in secondary enrollment could cause the student population to grow from 800,000 in 2004 to approximately 2 million in 2015, and to double the coverage. This increase exacerbates the financial problems of higher education institutions and mi.

The papers in this volume were presented at a conference organized by the Institut Français de Recherche en Afrique (IFRA) at the University of Ibadan on the 26th and 27th of October 1998, as part of the 50 anniversary celebrations of the University. This conference brought together scholars from anglophone and francophone countries who have been collaborating on a research programme which is concerned with elite formation and the restructuring of higher education in sub-Saharan Africa. The project was originally conceived in 1996 by IFRA and the Centre d'Etude d'Afrique Noire (Bordeaux, France). Nigeria, with more than 50 per cent of the continent's university student population and 40 universities, constitutes the major thrust of the study; nevertheless the reports on Kenya, Senegal and Niger are equally informative and demonstrate that survival strategies and student unrest and 'cults' are not exclusive to Nigeria.

For various economic and political reasons, many African countries lag behind the rest of the industrialised world in scientific and medical research and development. However, the presence of intellectual islands scattered across the continent gives hope that this is only a transient situation on the cusp of undergoing a profound and beneficial change. For this reason, the Society for the Advancement of Science in Africa was established to catalyse and contribute to this needed evolution. Its mission is to contribute to Africa’s economic advancement and sustainability through science research, education and innovation. This book provides a selection of papers from the Advancement of Science in Africa’s third annual conference. The conference was held under the overarching theme of ‘science research and education in Africa’, with several important sub-themes, including but not limited to: improving health research and disease surveillance education; epidemic diseases with high mortality; promoting women’s interest in science careers; fostering youth development with science education. The collection illustrates how although the chapter contributors come from various countries and universities, representing their own academic research, they all share a common interest in advancing science research and education in Africa.