The 2023 Webometrics ranking of universities in the world has ranked the University of Livingstonia (Unilia) as the top private university in Malawi.
The ratings, which mostly focus on research activities of universities, have also ranked Unilia at:
√ number 4 in Malawi;
√ number 253 in Sub-Saharan Africa;
√ number 456 in Africa; and
√ number 8785 out of the world’s 30000 universities.
In the country ranking, the following universities are ahead of Unilia: University of Malawi (Chancellor College – number 1); Mzuzu University (number 2); University of Malawi – College of Medicine, now called Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (Kuhes – number 3).
Local universities which are below Unilia include: Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (Luanar – number 5); University of Malawi – The Polytechnic, now called Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (Mubas – number 6); Malawi University of Science and Technology (Must – number 7); and Unicaf University – Malawi Campus (number 8).
Universities have a core duty of discovering knowledge through research and, thereafter, disseminating the knowledge through teaching, publications and other outreach activities.