Africa: 15 million private students on campus, the challenge of distance education

“There’s bound to be a before and after Coronavirus. The digital support to systems and pedagogical models will finally be recognized and promoted in universities, the virtual always pulling upwards,” said Claude Lishou, professor at the University Cheikh Anta Diop of Dakar in Senegal, and holder of the UNESCO Chair “ICT and development of higher education in West Africa”, in an interview with News Tank, 31/03/2020. He believes that “African universities have the foundations to overcome the crisis, they can organize themselves quickly by implementing solidarity and harmonization. In the 19 French-speaking countries of sub-Saharan Africa grouped within the Cames (African and Malagasy Council for Higher Education), the situation is very different. While virtual universities in Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire continue to operate, others have come to a complete standstill.