Home to 16% of the world’s population and spreading over one fifth of the planet, Africa is the world’s second largest and second most populous continent. It has the fastest growing middle class in the world, particularly in the sub-Saharan region; the World Bank has predicted that most African countries will achieve middle income status by 2025 if current growth rates continue.

As a result, the demand for education is rapidly increasing. Between 2000 and 2013, the number of African students enrolled in tertiary education more than doubled to 12.2 million, according to UNESCO.  And as of 2013, African students comprised 10% of all internationally mobile students around the world. This, along with a population boom set to double the continent’s population by 2050, means the demand for higher education is set for more dramatic increases.

But which African countries have the highest concentration of students, where they are going, and what motivates them?

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Mobile African students: Where do they come from, and where are they going?

The UNESCO Institute of Statistics provides a good indicator for which African countries generate the most international students and where they go. According to the most recent UIS data available, the top five senders and the top five destinations are as follows:

1. Nigeria – 89,094 students

  1. UK (16,072)
  2. US (11,167)
  3. Malaysia (11,052)
  4. Ghana (9,127)
  5. Benin (7,809)

2. Morocco – 48,453 students

  1. France (28,012)
  2. Ukraine (2,854)
  3. Italy (2,201)
  4. Spain (1,804)
  5. US (1,477)

3. Cameroon – 24,867 students

  1. France (4,550)
  2. Italy (2,611)
  3. Belgium (1,621)
  4. US (1,259)
  5. Canada (1,068)

4. Algeria – 21,784 students

  1. France (17,008)
  2. Canada (501)
  3. Saudi Arabia (500)
  4. UAE (389)
  5. UK (311)

5. Zimbabwe – 17,995 students

  1. South Africa (11,062)
  2. US (1,339)
  3. Namibia (1,038)
  4. UK (909)
  5. Australia (757)

Important caveat: This data does not include student migration flows into China. China is becoming an increasingly popular destination for international African students, growing from just under 2,000 African students in 2003 to almost 50,000 in 2015. To learn more about this phenomenon, read our piece ‘Mandarin Chinese: the language of the future for Ugandan students.‘

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