Marketing higher education in Africa: moving from research to practice

Much of the extant research has focused on Western higher education institutions’ marketing to Western students, with remarkably less attention being paid to African emerging markets. Higher education holds particular importance in Africa, as it would be critical to regional socio-economic development. With the market expansion by international higher education institutions and the emergence of private higher education institutions, African higher education institutions, private or public, are facing and will soon have to adopt a marketing orientation. The chapter begins with a brief discussion about the new reality of marketing higher education in Africa, followed by a marketing orientation checklist for higher education marketing managers to keep to their hearts. A large part of the chapter discusses ideas drawn from emerging research and well-proven practices to build, integrate, and develop the brand for African higher education institutions.