The demand for international education has been growing across Africa over the past few years, with several countries in particular showing the potential to become bigger source markets for different destination countries.

Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, and Ethiopia “specifically indicate future potential”, exhibiting the highest growing student interest in international education, a new analysis by Studyportals concluded.

These countries are among the top 10 in Africa with the highest outbound enrolment rates, the study showed.

And there are indications that this trend could continue.

“Based on our analysis of actual enrolment data, there are perhaps more students from Africa with the ability to pay international tuition fees than some people believe. It is also interesting to note the differences in tuition fees across different countries in Africa,” Ameena Ali, Market Researcher at Studyportals told The PIE News.

Average household income is projected to grow mainly in Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria in the coming four years, bringing them into the middle-income bracket, according to Studyportals.

“As universities still tend to rely on other bigger markets such as India and China, we think that they could still try to take advantage of the interest seen in African countries as well, to utilise that for their benefit. So the countries are promising now, but the future also looks bright”, Ali added.

The most populous country in Africa, Nigeria, recorded the highest percentage of student interest in studying abroad (6.5%) between July 2022-June 2024, followed by another West African country, Ghana, at 2.7%, and Egypt at 1.2%.

Morocco, Kenya, South Africa, Tunisia, Algeria, Ethiopia and Cameroon all made to the top 10 based on student demand for overseas study – although each has a relative interest rate of under 1%.

While Nigeria has been hit with economic challenges, its students still make up 30% of total African enrolments worldwide, followed by Ghana and Egypt – figures that align with UNESCO data related to student mobility from the countries, said Studyportals.

Meanwhile, other countries on the continent have displayed increased volumes of outbound students, with Egypt indicating a growth of almost 16% between 2017 and 2019, the analysis found.

The analysis, in part quoting UNESCO data, asserted that the top 10 African countries by demand for overseas study mostly go to North American and Western European institutions, with the North African countries of Morocco and Tunisia preferring Central and Eastern Europe destinations – mainly France and Italy.

However, Egyptians are an exception, showing keenness to study in neighbouring Arab countries.

“With that, it is good to note that currently, there are over 2,000 scholarships offered worldwide to countries specifically from Africa which could help alleviate students’ challenges in tuition costs”, the analysis observed.

While Nigeria and Ghana have similar destination patterns, including their preference for the UK, the US, Canada, and Ireland, there was notable difference in tuition fees they pay.

Nigerian students mostly enrolled in programmes with tuition fees of up to €60,000. Ghanaian students, on the other hand, paid even higher amounts of up to €100,000.

“Such a variety shows that the Ghanaian market is more diverse than it may seem, which universities should be aware of. It is also apparent that Ghana is more likely to go to the US, highlighting their readiness to pay larger tuition fees,” the study said.

The Ghanaian market is more diverse than it may seem, which universities should be aware of.

Studyportals

It further explained: “Moreover, it is crucial to note that since interest from these two countries towards the UK has been significantly decreasing, mainly due to recent policy changes, other countries such as the US and Canada could benefit from knowing more about their enrolment behaviour to understand how to attract them towards their countries in the near future.”

Tunisian students mostly enrol in universities with programmes that are priced up to €10,000, the analysis shpwed, while neighbouring Moroccans are willing to spend up to €20,0000.

According to the analysis, Tunisians showed interest in cheaper destinations including Italy, to the detriment of France – the traditional destination of choice for the country.

Even though many African countries show potential as major source countries, there are currently not enough efforts to capitalise on this interest to increase their enrolment abroad. 

“In other words, the US has not been developing its visa processing to meet the exponential growth of demand that it is receiving from these countries,”, the analysis concluded.