Egypt has been the leading source of African scholars in the US in the last 24 years, with 942 recorded in the 2023/24 academic session

key takeaways:

  • Egypt has been the lead source of African scholars in the US in the last 24 years.
  • Of the African scholars in the US as of the 2023/24 academic session, 20% were Egyptians.
  • The country remains a pivotal actor in building transcontinental academic bridges and contributing to global knowledge exchange.
  • Egypt’s visibility in the US scholarly ecosystem reinforces its role as a regional academic hub.

Egypt has been the lead source of African scholars in the US in the last 24 years, with 942 recorded in the 2023/24 academic session. These Egyptian scholars constituted 20% of all African scholars in the US, emphasizing Egypt’s significant share. This outsized representation clearly demonstrates Egypt’s enduring influence in shaping scholarly engagement across continents.

Egypt’s prominence in African academic exports and visibility in the US scholarly ecosystem reinforces its role as a regional academic hub and complements its strategic investments in higher education quality, including accreditation and international recognition of its universities. Such efforts not only foster outbound scholarly mobility but also attract international academic partnerships and boost Egypt’s soft power. With one in every five African scholars in the US being Egyptian, the country remains a pivotal actor in building transcontinental academic bridges and contributing to global knowledge exchange.

Source:

IIE Open Doors

Period:

2000/01 - 2023/24
HTML code to embed chart
Want a bespoke report?
Reach out
Tags
Related Insights

Foundational numeracy skills in Nigeria: among children aged 7-14, numeracy skills split along a north-south line
  • Lagos recorded an 82.3% numeracy rate, compared with 0.8% in Jigawa.
  • Nigeria’s foundational numeracy rate was 25.3% in 2021.
  • Fifteen of the 18 jurisdictions above the national average were in the South.
  • In 11 northern states, fewer than 12% of children had foundational numeracy skills.
  • Taraba’s numeracy estimate was 9.5%, with a 95% confidence interval of 6.0%–14.7%.

Children’s reading skills in Nigeria: 16 of 18 jurisdictions beating Nigeria's reading average are in the south
  • Lagos recorded an 87% reading proficiency rate, against 2% in Jigawa.
  • The gap between Lagos and Jigawa was 85 percentage points.
  • Nigeria’s national reading proficiency rate was 26.8%.
  • Eighteen of 37 areas exceeded the national average.
  • Kwara and the FCT were the only areas outside the three southern zones above the national average.

Ghana accounted for 446 scholars in the US in 2023/24, representing 9.5% of all African scholars there
  • 446 Ghanaian scholars are in the US as of the 2023/24 academic session, making up 9.5% of the total number of African scholars in the US.
  • In the 2000/01 academic session, Ghana was the 7th leading source of African scholars with only 75 Ghanaian scholars in the US.
  • Nearly 1 in African scholars in the US is a Ghanaian.
  • Ghana scholarly population in the US have grown by 497%.

Egypt and Nigeria were Africa’s leading sources of international scholars in the US in 2023/24
  • Egypt remained the lead African country with the highest number of international scholars in the US, with 942 recorded in the 2023/2024 academic session.
  • As of the 2023/2024 academic session, 4,679 international scholars in the United States of America are from Africa.
  • A total of 931 international scholars in the US as of the same session are from Nigeria.
  • Africa produced 4.2% of the international scholars in the US for the session under review.

Nigerian scholars in the US nearly quadruple in two decades, rising from 176 in 2000/01 to 931 in 2023/24
  • Nigeria has been the second leading source of African scholars in the US since 2008/09 to 2023/24, after overtaking South Africa.
  • By the 2023/24 academic session, the number of Nigerian scholars in the US reached 931.
  • Given past trends, it’s not unrealistic to predict that Nigeria could surpass Egypt in the near future, just as it did South Africa.
  • Approximately 20% of the African scholars in the US are Nigerians.

China leads US international scholars with more than 23,000 in 2023/24, nearly 21% of global total
  • China continued to lead globally with the highest number of international scholars in the US, with almost 21% of the international scholars as of 2023/2024.
  • China has been the lead country with the highest number of scholars in the US globally in the last 24 years.
  • India is next after China, with 17,735 scholars in US who hailed from India making up 15.8% of the population.
  • Only 1% of the scholars in the US are from Nigeria

POPULAR TOPICS
SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Get periodic updates about the African startup space, access to our reports, among others.
Subscribe Here
Subscription Form

A product of Techpoint Africa. All rights reserved