Uganda’s premier institution, Makerere University, has dropped out of the top 10 African university rankings for the first time in over a decade.
The undesirable news marks a significant decline for the country’s oldest higher education institution.
The latest continental rankings show South African universities dominating the top positions, with the University of Cape Town leading at 150th globally, followed by the University of the Witwatersrand at 291st worldwide.
The exclusion from the top 10 represents a dramatic fall from grace for Makerere, which has historically been regarded as one of Africa’s leading universities and has maintained a position among the continent’s top five institutions for over ten years consecutively.
Recent data indicates that Makerere has been experiencing a steady decline in its continental standing.
Makerere University has dropped in ranking to 17th position in Africa from 13th as of July 2023, which was its previous position at the beginning of this year, according to rankings released earlier this year.
Makerere University ranked 1st in Uganda and 798th in the World 2025 overall rankings, showing that while it maintains its domestic leadership, its global competitiveness has significantly weakened.
The current top 10 African universities are dominated by South African institutions, which occupy six of the ten positions. The University of Cape Town leads the continent at 150th globally, followed by the University of the Witwatersrand (291st), Stellenbosch University (302nd), University of Johannesburg (308th), University of Pretoria (363rd), and University of KwaZulu-Natal (558th).
The decline in rankings comes despite Makerere’s continued dominance in East Africa.
The murmurs on education observers and some commentators are whether the decline is due to the change in the ranking criteria or internal struggles alleged on different new management policies.
