Academic and research institutions find themselves tasked with learning how to adapt in real-time in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic that is significantly disrupting the global higher education sector. Most of the focus so far has been on western countries, leaving major gaps in our understanding of how Africa’s own centres of knowledge production are faring in this crisis. We know that the state of research and higher education on the continent has long been a cause for concern even before the COVID-19 crisis and early indications show that the virus is exacerbating these vulnerabilities.
Now, more than ever, a reckoning with these structural issues is required. Leaders must leverage this moment to seek opportunities for the African knowledge ecosystem to not only survive the current crisis, but also build pathways for longer term resilience against future shocks to the continent’s education systems.