ABSTRACT
The decades since independence have witnessed an era of higher education development in francophone West Africa unparalleled in both its scope and its pace. This expansion has been characterized by a broad consensus among international donors, African governments, and African citizens to expand higher education beyond its colonial conception to support and accelerate social and economic development. Postindependence has been an era of challenge and promise, of cautious adaptations and some radical departures. In the process, important lessons have been learned through the effort to broaden and redirect the mission of the African university from Eurocentric, academic pursuits to pressing national concerns and priorities.
