Historically, educators in higher education (HE) were expected to educate, generate knowledge, and do community service. With some commentators arguing that an academic must ‘publish or perish’, the expectation to create knowledge through research became overemphasized. The concept is widespread in HE institutions around the world. It aids to keep staff, particularly those in universities, constantly engaged with relevant knowledge works in their fields of expertise. According to this viewpoint, research publications are the most important factor in determining whether an academic or an administrator gets employed, promoted, acknowledged, retained, or not hired. The idea of ‘publish or perish’, on the other hand, is based on the dominant Western knowledge creation realities, which largely misrepresent or ignore African realities. To avoid perpetuating inequalities in academia, it is critical to re-examine how this idea informs knowledge creation in Africa. For example, the enormous number of publications required for one to advance up the academic ladder comes at a hefty cost that is not always feasible to low-paid academics in Africa’s resource-poor countries. This limits promotion of some individuals. Basically, for many Africans, what matters is the information gained, not how many times one’s work is acknowledged in scholarly publications. We need to establish knowledge-creation processes that are tailored to African realities. To that goal, we must strike a balance between having numerous publications with the potential to have an impact on society, given that developing solutions to development concerns appears to be more vital for Africa right now. This paper problematizes the ‘publish or perish’ concept for African academics, especially those intending to make an impact in their society with a purpose of eliminating inequalities in academia.

South-South cooperation has garnered much attention in recent times among states, policymakers, and academics and its scope is growing to encompass economic cooperation and health, education, research, and development initiatives. This article examines the current status of academic partnerships between institutions in Asia and Africa, the challenges confronting them, and the emerging trends and strategies. Practical examples are provided to showcase the current practices and challenges in each region. The article also highlights academic cooperation experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic and identifies the emerging trends and challenges in academic collaboration in Asia and Africa in the post-pandemic era. It proposes strategies for future NorthSouth, North-South-South, and South-South academic collaboration. During the pandemic, academic cooperation in teaching, learning, and research across borders has demonstrated resilience and sustainability. Increased opportunities for collaboration within, between, and beyond Asia and Africa are being provided by technology-enhanced collaborative modes. However, the digital divide within and across the two continents will impact the future modalities of academic collaboration.

This paper analyses the existing modes of financing a university education in Uganda. Different parties, including the state, the student (household), donors, and the institution itself, are financing university education in Uganda. However, students are the primary source of funds for university education. Over the years, the fees charged to university students have been increasing to the extent that they are now becoming unaffordable to many students considering the current average annual household income. While the government is involved in funding university education, the level of involvement is unsatisfactory besides being discriminative. The existing government sponsorship scheme indirectly favours students from affluent families and denies access to poor students. The existing loan scheme focuses only on STEM courses and ignores students whose potentials are in the arts sector. However, in doing all this, the state uses taxpayers' money. Indirectly, poor households finance the education of students from affluent families while students from low-income families must struggle on their own. Therefore, it is submitted in this paper that the existing funding mechanism for university education in Uganda should be revisited and made fair, sustainable, and inclusive. The paper reviews literature relevant to the topic by adopting a general literature review methodology. It highlights the involvement of different partners that finance university education in Uganda and the benefits of university education. The paper submits that a better funding model for university education should involve the student, the university, and the state should take the leading role.