Use research to decolonise universities, says ex-AAS chief

Research by African academics on Africa is the easiest way to decolonise the curricula of African universities, a former head of the African Academy of Sciences has said.

Berhanu Abegaz made the remark in a lecture at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa on 14 May. He said that while 2,000 universities were established on the continent after the end of colonialism, they do not reflect African realities.

“They have North- or Eurocentric content. If you don’t like the Eurocentric content you need to replace it. If you want to replace them it can’t just come like that, a lot of research has to be done,” he said.