Makerere University is Africa's fifth-best university and the best in East Africa, according to the latest World University rankings by Times Higher Education.

The ranking places Makerere together with Mansoura University in Egypt, the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, and the Durban University of Technology in South Africa, among others in the same position.

Prof Barnabas Nawangwe, the Vice-Chancellor of Makerere University, said the ranking means the institution is on the right course, despite attempts by“detractors”to disrupt the strategy.

We are on course to becoming a research-intensive university. We still have a few non-performers whom we need to get rid of and we will be unstoppable. The Forbes Institute this year recognized Makerere as the university which produces the best entrepreneurial graduates,”Prof Nawangwe said on Friday.

The rankings included more than 1,500 universities across 93 countries and regions.
The selection criteria of the survey is based on four performance areas of teaching, research, knowledge transfer, and international outlook.

The best university in Africa is the University of Cape Town in South Africa, followed by the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa.

(With input from agencies)