The following are short descriptions of the major institutions which have contributed to the shaping of Global African history. These encyclopedia entries serve as a starting point for much more inclusive descriptions and discussions that appear in other sources. For additional information please consult the print or website sources cited in the entry.
Founded on October 4, 1962, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) is a public university located in Zaria, Kaduna State in northern Nigeria. With over 35,000 students, it is the largest university in sub-Saharan Africa and the second largest on the African continent after the University of … Read MoreAhmadu Bello University (1962- )
Image Ownership: Udeagbala (CC BY-SA 4.0) The University of Nigeria is a federally-controlled public university located in southeastern Nigeria. The university has three campuses: Nsukka (the main campus), Enugu, and Ituku-Ozalla. It was the first university opened by newly independent Nigeria. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the … Read MoreUniversity of Nigeria (1960- )
The Gondar College of Medical Sciences is located in Gondar in the northwestern part of Ethiopia. The college, founded in 1954, is the oldest health professional training institute in Ethiopia. The medical college was located in Gondar in 1954 in part because of the malaria … Read MoreThe Gondar College of Medical Sciences (1954- )
On February 16, 1827, The Church Missionary Society (CMS) founded Fourah Bay College, the first college in West Africa. The first principal of the college was Rev. Edward Jones, an African American minister. It was located atop Mount Aureol in Freetown, the capital of Sierra … Read MoreFourah Bay College (1827- )
In 1922 the British colonial government in Uganda founded a small vocational school, which would eventually become Uganda’s lone institution of higher education, Makerere University. The British Governor of Uganda, Robert Coryndon (1918-1922), proposed building a technical school for Africans. The Colonial Office and the … Read MoreMakerere University (1922– )
Achimota College was founded in Achimota, Gold Coast (now Ghana) in 1924 by Dr. James Emman Kwegyir Aggrey, Rev. Alexander Garden Fraser, and Sir Gordon Guggisberg, the British Governor of the Gold Coast (1919-1927), as an elite secondary school based on the British model of public education. Governor Guggisberg urged … Read MoreAchimota College/Achimota School (1924- )
In 1851, the national legislature of Liberia authorized the establishment of Liberia College which is now the second oldest institution of higher learning in West Africa. The Trustees of Donations for Education in Liberia purchased materials and hired faculty for the college with funds from … Read MoreUniversity of Liberia (1863- )
Cheikh Anta Diop University or Université Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD), located in Dakar, Senegal, is among the largest universities in French-speaking West Africa. The UCAD has a relatively long history as it has evolved from the Ecole de Médecine de Dakar, a Medical School that … Read MoreCheikh Anta Diop University (1957–)
