Plenty has been said about what AI could do for African universities. Now five of them are going to find out in practice.
The Education Collaborative, based at Ashesi University in Ghana, and Qatar Foundation’s WISE announced on 20 October that they are working with five universities in the Collaborative’s network to design and test their own approaches to AI. The work covers teaching, student support and rules for how AI is used, and runs from October to June 2027.
Teams from the five institutions met in Nairobi on 2 October to shape their plans, with technical support from Educate Ventures Research.
From survey to practice
This is the second phase of a project on digital transformation and AI in African higher education. The first, in 2025 with Mohammed VI Polytechnic University and AfriLabs, surveyed 3,875 people at 47 institutions. It found AI use was patchy, with gaps in policy, staff skills and infrastructure.
The new phase lets universities tackle the problems they themselves picked, and document what works and what doesn’t so others can learn from it.
We wanted to grow understanding of how universities are adapting to AI, from leadership to students,
Selma Talha-Jebril, Director of Research and Policy at WISE
The lessons are due to be shared at the WISE summit in 2027.
Related reporting: In Nairobi, university leaders ask: are our campuses built for students?.
