KAMPALA: Makerere University is now ranked 23rd in Africa and 639 among global universities, according to U.S. News and World Report Best Global Universities Rankings 2026-2027. This latest ranking pushes Makerere out of the top 20 universities in Africa.
University of Cape Town in South Africa was ranked the first in Africa and 122nd in global ranking, followed by Cairo University in Egypt in second position, University of Witwatersrand in South Africa in third position, University of Ibadan in Nigeria in fourth position and Mansoura University in Egypt in fifth position among others.
According to the 12th annual U.S. News and World Report, the Best Global Universities rankings compare institutions worldwide based on academic research performance and international and regional reputation.
Furthermore, the rankings assess academic research and reputation, as well as the strength of its teaching faculty.
The ranking considers 13 performance indicators for Best Global Universities rank that include; Global research reputation, Regional research reputation, publications, books, conferences normalized citation impact, total citations, number of publications that are among the 10percent most cited in the world for their respective fields, International collaboration – relative to country, International collaboration.
The others are; percentage of total publications that are among the 10 most cited, number of highly cited papers that are among the top 1% most cited in their respective field, and Percentage of total publications that are among the top 1% most highly cited papers in the world in the world – per field and publication year. Makerere University’s overall score was 44.9.
The rankings serve as a benchmark for students, researchers, and policymakers evaluating higher education quality across countries.
When contacted, Prof Mukadasi Buyinza, the Makerere University Academic Registrar said he had not had an opportunity to look at the ranking and the methodology that was used to reach the ranking in question.
He however, noted that the university regards Times Higher Education’s ranking highly, compared to other rankings across the globe, because of its accurate measure of achievement in all of the aspects.
“Makerere has always been at a higher rank. I don’t know if they are saying it is true. I don’t know where Makerere didn’t fare well because the 23rd place is a bit on the lower side for Makerere,” Prof Buyinza said. “We may not disregard it because they have already done the ranking, but it needs to be interrogated, reviewed and once we see, it was a credible methodology, we may say yes.”
He added; “We can’t conclude before we look at the methodology and the parameters followed to reach that ranking. We may not have the power to recognize, but we don’t confirm that kind of ranking.”
Prof Buyinza noted that the university is waiting for the Times Higher Education’s ranking to know its position in Africa and in the region.
“We are waiting for Times Higher Education which is a more accurate measure of achievement in all of the aspects because for them, they look at research, teaching, community and policy engagement. But this one here may have picked just one item, one parameter, which is giving that result,” Prof Buyinza said.
At East African Level, Makerere University was ranked the best university while University of Nairobi, in (Kenya) which emerged the 35th in Africa and 809 in the world was the second best university in the region.
The University of Rwanda in Rwanda was in 89th position in Africa and 1721 in the world.
Muhimbili university of Health and Allied Science in Tanzania, was the 92nd in Africa and 1815 in the world while the University of Dar- es-Salaam was the, 93th in Africa and 1835 in the world.
The Vice Chancellor of Makerere University, Prof Barnabas Nawangwe said this was the first time for Makerere to be evaluated by this agency and that the university is yet to study the criteria used, given that the university has been ranked lower than the ranking of other agencies.
“This is the first time Makerere is being ranked by this agency. Previously they have ranked only elite universities in the developed world. We will study the criteria they use since they are ranking us below universities that have been ranked lower than us by all other agencies. Nevertheless it is not a bad rank,” Prof Nawangwe explained during a Sunday evening (June 21) engagement with this publication.
The Times Higher Education World University Rankings in 2026 placed Makerere University in the 12th position in Africa and number one in East Africa and in the 801-1000 band globally.
The ranking considered five performance indicators, namely: Teaching; Research environment; Research quality; International Outlook; and Industry. Makerere’s overall score was 37.2, significantly outperforming peer institutions in the Region with an average score of 18.8.
The 2023 Sub- Saharan Africa University rankings placed Makerere in the fifth position among the best African Universities and top most, outside of Tanzania and South Africa.
While unveiling the university’s five year strategic plan 2025/2026-2029-2030 recently, Prof Nawangwe said the university intends to increase the number of graduate students to at least 30 percent by 2030 to realise its ambitious strategy of turning Makerere into a research-led institution.
Prof Nawangwe said sustaining undergraduate slots while expanding postgraduate admissions will help “promote quality education, innovative, and responsive teaching and learning that transforms students’ experiences and meets societal needs.
Utility;
Over 2,250 universities evaluated and ranked worldwide
Top Universities in East Africa
Makerere University first in East Africa, 23rd in Africa and 639 in world
University of Nairobi, in (Kenya) second in East Africa, 35th in Africa and 809 in the world
University of Rwanda in Rwanda, third in the region, 89 in Africa and 1721 in the world
Muhimbili university of Health and Allied Science in Tanzania, four in the region, 92 in Africa and 1815 in the world
University of Dar- es-Salaam, fifth in East Africa, 93 in Africa and 1835 in the world
Top 10 universities in Africa
University of Cape Town South Africa (122)
Cairo University Egypt (221)
University of the Witwatersrand South Africa (240)
University of Ibadan Nigeria (264)
Mansoura University Egypt (267)
Al-Azhar University Egypt (279)
University of Johannesburg South Africa281 Ain Shams University Egypt (290)
Stellenbosch University South Africa 299 and Alexandria University Egypt (304).
Top 10 universities globally.
Harvard University (United States, Cambridge) – Global Score: 100.0
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (United States, Cambridge) – Global Score: 97.0
Stanford University (United States, Stanford) – Global Score: 94.4
University of Oxford (United Kingdom, Oxford) – Global Score: 88.1
University of Cambridge (United Kingdom, Cambridge) – Global Score: 87.1
Tsinghua University (China, Beijing) – Global Score: 86.5
University of California, Berkeley (United States, Berkeley) – Global Score: 86.4
Yale University (United States, New Haven) – Global Score: 86.0
University College London (UCL) (United Kingdom, London) – Global Score: 85.3
Columbia University (United States, New York City) – Global Score: 85.0
Top Universities in East Africa
Makerere University first in East Africa, 23rd in Africa and 639 in world
University of Nairobi, in (Kenya) second in East Africa, 35th in Africa and 809 in the world
University of Rwanda in Rwanda, third in the region, 89 in Africa and 1721 in the world
Muhimbili university of Health and Allied Science in Tanzania, four in the region, 92 in Africa and 1815 in the world
University of Dar-es-Salaam, fifth in East Africa, 93 in Africa and 1835 in the world
By Sylvia Katushabe & Jane Nafula
