Higher Education Governance and Management in Africa: Commonalities, Innovative Practices, Surprises and Conclusions

This concluding chapter reflects on the previous 11 chapters and (a) identifies common threads, (b) isolates the innovative practices in higher education governance and management in Africa, (c) presents “surprises” or higher education governance and management practices which signal a departure from the global norm (d) and draws conclusions. The commonalities, innovative practices and surprises underscore the tendency in national higher education systems to maintain a delicate balance between the historically inherited values of HE (collegiality, academic freedom and autonomy) and the ideals of managerialism.