UCL in Africa & Middle East

UCL's engagement with, and commitment to, different regions of the world is well documented. It's a mutually beneficial relationship for our academics and those at partner institutions. In Africa, we are looking to consolidate existing partnerships and establish new ones, responding to emerging shared priorities. It is a journey that we are excited about, because collaboration is not optional when we are serious about tackling societal challenges.
Professor Julius Mugwagwa
UCL Global Strategic Academic Advisor (Africa)
MAKING AN IMPACT
UCL community

1,214 students from Africa and the Middle East study at UCL.

UCL has 7,986 alumni in Africa and the Middle East.

UCL alumna and visiting professor Lesley Lokko OBE received the Royal Gold Medal for Architecture for her work championing diverse approaches to architectural practice and education.

Meet Hope Oloye, founder and director of Thinking Black, a social enterprise that runs interdisciplinary programmes for Black British students.

Discover how Dr Chinemelu Ezeh, from Nigeria, shaped the future of robotics at UCL and beyond.

UCL Professor Ijeoma Uchegbu has joined Wellcome’s Board of Governors, to help guide and oversee the foundation’s global activities.

UCL Mathematics alumnus, Zubair Junjunia, from Saudi Arabia, has been awarded The Diana Award for his revolutionary revision platform, ZNotes.

UCL-backed student recruitment platform, Unibuddy - created by UCL alumnus Kimeshan from South Africa - has received $20m in funding to help fuel its global expansion.
We're proud of our international and multi-cultural community which counts 1,214 students from Africa and the Middle East currently studying at UCL and 7,986 UCL alumni in Africa and the Middle East. Meet some of our students, alumni and academics through the slideshow above.
Research, partnerships and projects

UCL and the University of Cape Town (UCT) have been awarded a £2.1 million grant from the Novo Nordisk Foundation to launch a pioneering cardiovascular research study across Africa.

Professor Tristan McCowan (UCL Centre for Education and International Development) used UCL-Wits University Strategic Partner Funds to explore community-university engagement for sustainability.

Startup Nodanni LTD, supported by UCL, has developed Vactraca, a necklace that’s helping to save children from vaccine-preventable diseases.

Traces of ancient empires that stretched across Africa remain in the DNA of people living on the continent, reveals a new genetics study led by UCL researchers.

The UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology is partnering with The American University in Cairo and the Davos Alzheimer's Collaborative on Alzheimer's detection and risk reduction efforts.

A UCL-led study has found changing the vaccination schedule for infants in sub-Saharan Africa could greatly reduce the risk of contracting fatal diseases.

Researchers at UCL and the Africa Health Research Institute have developed an app to help diagnose HIV in low- and middle-income countries

The Colouring London mapping project, helping to create more sustainable cities, is being expanded internationally including in Lebanon and Bahrain.
UCL academics have collaborated with higher education institutes in 28 African countries and 12 Middle Eastern countries over the past five years. Our Africa & Middle East Regional Network brings together more than 700 active members of the UCL group. See examples of our impact here.
GET INVOLVED
Current and future partners
Partnership enquiries
We are keen to develop partnerships and collaborations with universities and institutions in Africa and the Middle East. If you are interested in exploring ways to work with UCL, contact our Senior Global Engagement Manager (Africa & Middle East), Amanda Chukwudozie.
Related networks and partners include:
- Institute of Advanced Studies
- UCL African Studies
- Royal African Society
- AfNet (Africa Research Students Network)