Across Africa, higher education institutions increasingly recognize that student success extends beyond the classroom. Effective support systems, including mental health services, financial aid, academic advising, and student wellbeing, are essential for improving retention, performance, and graduate outcomes.
Yet, in many institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa, support systems remain fragmented, under-resourced, or peripheral to institutional strategy, limiting their effectiveness. The Education Collaborative’s 2026 West Africa Hub Convening initiated discussions, facilitated workshops, and offered practical tools to address these challenges.
With the theme “Students First: Rethinking Support Systems, Campus Life, and Academic Success in African Higher Education Institutions,” the convening brought together 165 participants from 41 institutions across 12 countries to examine how student success is defined, funded, and sustained.
Hosted by L’Institut Supérieur des Langues et des Affaires (ISLA) in Lomé, Togo, the convening was The Education Collaborative’s first bilingual convening serving French and English-speaking participants. Mr. Maurice Gnamatsi, Founder and CEO of ISLA, in his opening remarks, shared, “I became aware of The Education Collaborative in 2020 and chose to remain connected because I met leaders and institutions that are committed to fostering excellence in African higher education – this shared commitment is what unites us and defines the strength of our network.”
Mr. Bright Kumordzi, the Deputy High Commissioner, High Commission of the Republic of Ghana to the Togolese Republic, in his welcome address, shared, “It is laudable to see higher education institutions across Africa [at The Education Collaborative], deciding to share best practices and work together as a continent. With this intervention, the quality of graduates produced to advance economic transformation will accelerate and deepen Africa’s progress.
Over two days, discussions addressed practical factors influencing student experience and outcomes.
In a keynote address, Prof. DeBrenna Agbenyiga, Provost of the International University of Grand-Bassam, Côte D’Ivoire, examined the role of governments as architects of higher education systems, shaping how policies, financing, and accountability structures influence student outcomes.
“We must challenge the state to go beyond the regulatory aspects of their support to higher education and consider what it means to be in a fourth-generation university in the 21st century,” she shared. “It’s time we established a new kind of decision-making board – one where the state, students, and higher education leaders sit at the same table to design the blueprint for student success.”
A session on Africa Higher Education Rankings, led by Obed Nhyira Sam, Director of The Education Collaborative’s Africa Higher Education Rankings, introduced an Africa-led framework for benchmarking institutional performance. Sam stated, “Rankings should not just measure performance – they should drive it.
We are co-creating a yardstick developed by African institutions, for African institutions, towards turning data into action that shapes policy and strengthens higher education systems. The Africa Higher Education Rankings will serve as a tool for continuous improvement, reflecting the continent’s priorities while supporting institutions to strengthen their systems and practices.”
A fireside chat on employability data, moderated by Rose Dodd, Executive Director of The Education Collaborative, featured Patrick Awuah, President of Ashesi University, and Prof. Olusola Bandele Oyewole, Secretary-General of the Association of African Universities.
The discussion explored how robust data systems can inform institutional decision-making. Patrick Awuah noted, “When we talk about employability, we often default to career services, but employability systems are end-to-end – from what we teach in the classroom to how we integrate continuous employer feedback on student performance in internships.”
The session emphasized shifting from focusing solely on employment rates to understanding the systems that produce these outcomes, a gap that the Education Collaborative’s Higher Education Employability Systems Assessment is addressing. Prof. Olusola Bandele Oyewole concluded, “Tracking employability data is important for universities – the data gives universities the evidence they need to make better decisions to improve graduate outcomes and boost investor confidence.”
Across these discussions, a consistent theme emerged: student success is shaped by interconnected systems that cannot exist in silos. Institutions shared examples of how career services, mental health systems, sports infrastructure, entrepreneurship initiatives, and student support structures are being integrated into broader institutional strategies to achieve more consistent and scalable outcomes.
The convening also offered an opportunity to reflect on the West Africa Hub’s progress since its establishment in 2022. In sessions led by Assistant Director, Rita Dugbenu and Strategic Committee Chairperson, Dr. Peter Bamkole, participants reflected on how engagement in the Collaborative has enabled them achieve systems development outcomes in employability, entrepreneurship, and faculty development.
“Since joining the Collaborative in 2017, we have seen real transformation across our university – from strengthening entrepreneurship on campus to establishing an advancement center, deepening partnerships, launching an Artificial Intelligence center, as well as expanding student development and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) initiatives.” Dr. Kayode Ogunsola, a Lecturer at Bells University of Technology, Nigeria, shared.
The convening concluded with institutional reflections and commitments for the coming year. Participating institutions identified areas to strengthen their systems, deepen collaboration, and contribute to shared learning across the network.
Dr. Peter Bamkole, Strategic Committee Chairperson of the West Africa Hub, encouraged participants to both learn from others and share their knowledge and skills with other institutions. “This is Africa, by Africa, for Africa. What makes this network different is that it goes beyond academics – bringing administrators and students into the same space. When students move across institutions, they learn from one another and begin to demand accountability.”
With over 200,000 students reached to date, the West Africa Hub continues to expand its impact across the continent’s most populous sub-region. Rita Dugbenu, Assistant Director of the West Africa Hub, stated, “As we continue to grow, we invite institutions that are not yet members of The Education Collaborative to join this transformative agenda to improve graduate outcomes for over a million students across sub-Saharan Africa by 2030.”
Learn about membership at The Education Collaborative here.
Watch the West Africa Hub’s documentary video reflecting on the hub’s progress since 2022 below
This article was originally published by The Education Collaborative and is republished here with permission.
The Education Collaborative is a pan-African network advancing higher education through collaborative research, practice-driven programs, and shared accountability among universities and education leaders, with a focus on strengthening graduate outcomes and long-term institutional impact.
