Financing public universities and research in sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges and prospects in the context of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Public universities in Africa (which are essentially knowledge generating organisations by nature) have a strategic role to play in the implementation and achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through scientific research, teaching and community service. However, African public universities role in the achievement of SDGs is constrained by inadequate funding by their respective national governments, particularly for research and development (R&D). Inadequate funding for R&D activities in African public universities limits their capacity to undertake, publish scholarly and promote uptake of research relevant to attainment of SDGs. This paper reviews various financing modalities currently being used by African public universities, pointing out some limitations inherent in the financing modalities and proposes some innovative and eclectic financing modalities to enable African public universities effectively participate in the implementation of SDGs. The thesis of the paper is that current modalities of financing public universities have shortcomings which constrain their capacity to effectively participate in the implementation of SDGs and therefore, new financing modalities are urgently required. The new models are deemed to serve as a good compliment to correct modalities of financing public universities in Africa. These include existing and developed modalities such as Government funding, development partners support, cost-sharing, that have been implemented for several decades now; as well as emerging approaches such as a) performance-based funding; b) reasearch performance-based funding; and c) market model.