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Kenya vs South Africa

On research quality in 2022-now, South Africa ranks #29 in the world and Kenya #57, of 189 countries. Kenya stands higher in 0 of the 25 fields both publish in, South Africa in 25.

Research profiles alike: 0.85very similar shapes of research, whatever their size. How it is measured

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Kenya

World rank, 2022-now
#57
#58 all time
Works, 2022-now
29k
fractional
Top-10% rate
5.7%
share of its work among the world's most cited
Open access
70%
of its works free to read

Strongest relative focus: Safety Research, Business and International Management, Library and Information Sciences.

South Africa

World rank, 2022-now
#29
#31 all time
Works, 2022-now
113k
fractional
Top-10% rate
10.6%
share of its work among the world's most cited
Open access
49%
of its works free to read

Strongest relative focus: Archeology, Religious studies, Research and Theory.

Who leads, measure by measure?

South Africa leads on 5 of 9 measures: research quality, citation excellence for its fields, output, top-10% rate and citations per work. Kenya leads on 3 of 9 measures: open access, international co-authorship and growth. The two are level on institutions in the world top 100.

Kenya 31 level5 South Africa
  1. #57Research qualityworld rank of 189 countries, 2022-now#29
  2. 0.73×Citation excellence for its fieldsits top-10% rate against what its topics predict; 1.00× is as expected1.06×
  3. 29kOutputfractional works, 2022-now113k
  4. 5.7%Top-10% rateshare of its works among the world's most cited10.6%
  5. 12.3Citations per workall time, per fractional work16.2
  6. 0World top 100institutions it holds among the world's best 1000
  7. 70%Open accessof its works free to read, all time49%
  8. 26%Internationalof its works written with co-authors abroad, all time22%
  9. +28%Growthworks in 2022-25 against 2018-21; half a bar is no change+17%

A rank is drawn as its standing: the longer the bar, the nearer the top. Anything else is drawn against the larger of the two, and two values a hair apart are called level. Quality, citation excellence and the top-10% rate are explained in the methodology.

Who leads in each field?

Kenya stands higher in 0 of 25 fields, South Africa in 25. South Africa leads most in Decision Sciences (#26 against #66). Each bar is that side's standing among all countries ranked in the field: the full bar is first place.

Kenya 025 South Africa
  1. #39Agricultural and Biological Sciences#28
  2. #64Arts and Humanities#20
  3. #57Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology#31
  4. #69Business, Management and Accounting#29
  5. -Chemical Engineering#32
  6. -Chemistry#38
  7. #73Computer Science#32
  8. #66Decision Sciences#26
  9. -Dentistry#39
  10. -Earth and Planetary Sciences#28
  11. #65Economics, Econometrics and Finance#22
  12. -Energy#43
  13. #79Engineering#36
  14. #58Environmental Science#29
  15. #57Health Professions#29
  16. #36Immunology and Microbiology#24
  17. #77Materials Science#32
  18. #52Mathematics#28
  19. #44Medicine#23
  20. -Neuroscience#37
  21. #41Nursing#34
  22. -Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics#24
  23. -Physics and Astronomy#33
  24. #70Psychology#24
  25. #71Social Sciences#22

Standing is the percentile of world rank within each field, 2022-now; the printed number is the rank itself. A dash means the field is too small there to rank. How sides are compared.

The numbers behind each field

Click a heading to sort. The side that does better in a pair of columns is shaded: a lower rank, a higher rate, more works.

Field Kenya rankSouth Africa rank Kenya top 10%South Africa top 10% Kenya worksSouth Africa works
Agricultural and Biological Sciences #39 #28 9.6% 12.1% 3.1k 6.9k
Arts and Humanities #64 #20 7.2% 15.9% 720 4.3k
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology #57 #31 8.2% 9.4% 705 3.7k
Business, Management and Accounting #69 #29 2.6% 9.4% 3.3k 6.3k
Chemical Engineering - #32 - 7.1% - 301
Chemistry - #38 - 10.4% - 1.4k
Computer Science #73 #32 4.8% 10.9% 1.3k 5.6k
Decision Sciences #66 #26 3.1% 9.6% 710 1.8k
Dentistry - #39 - 8.8% - 243
Earth and Planetary Sciences - #28 - 9.1% - 1.5k
Economics, Econometrics and Finance #65 #22 3.4% 12.1% 1.8k 4.3k
Energy - #43 - 10.4% - 1.2k
Engineering #79 #36 5.8% 8.6% 1.4k 11k
Environmental Science #58 #29 6.5% 9.2% 2k 7.9k
Health Professions #57 #29 7.5% 10.6% 1.1k 4.3k
Immunology and Microbiology #36 #24 9.0% 11.1% 308 978
Materials Science #77 #32 5.0% 9.1% 232 2.7k
Mathematics #52 #28 5.7% 11.5% 352 1.3k
Medicine #44 #23 7.1% 10.2% 3.9k 15k
Neuroscience - #37 - 9.2% - 690
Nursing #41 #34 6.2% 11.2% 393 783
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics - #24 - 11.6% - 307
Physics and Astronomy - #33 - 9.4% - 1.7k
Psychology #70 #24 5.0% 9.1% 1.1k 4.6k
Social Sciences #71 #22 4.7% 11.7% 6.1k 24k

What is each known for?

The keywords that describe each side's research, by fractional works in 2022-now and weighted toward what it does more of than the world.

Kenya

▲ more of its work than of the world's◆ about the world's share▼ less than the world's
All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Climate Change1,810▲ 1.98×120 topics
  2. Sustainability1,751▲ 2.1×122 topics
  3. Epidemiology1,518◆ 1.13×136 topics
  4. Globalization1,252▲ 1.90×144 topics
  5. Supply Chain Management1,068▲ 3.5×25 topics
  6. Innovation1,016▲ 2.9×76 topics
  7. Poverty Reduction982▲ 22×6 topics
  8. Risk Management961▲ 6.0×17 topics
  9. Social Capital923▲ 5.3×20 topics
  10. Sustainable Development899▲ 1.71×96 topics
  11. Education894▲ 1.55×120 topics
  12. Economic Growth864▲ 3.1×32 topics
  13. Leadership820▲ 5.0×33 topics
  14. Corporate Governance798▲ 3.2×29 topics
  15. Development713▲ 5.9×20 topics
  16. Economic Development671▲ 2.5×50 topics
  17. Gender Equality655▲ 6.9×19 topics
  18. Sustainable Agriculture606▲ 5.8×16 topics
  19. Gender Inequality578▲ 12×7 topics
  20. Food Security577▲ 3.2×25 topics
  21. Smallholder Farmers569▲ 8.0×6 topics
  22. Social Networks560▲ 6.1×13 topics
  23. Community Health Workers555▲ 19×2 topics
  24. Rural Development550▲ 4.8×21 topics
  25. Adaptation547▲ 5.5×15 topics
  26. Maternal Mortality542▲ 7.2×5 topics
  27. Performance Measurement483▲ 5.4×7 topics
  28. Health Inequalities478▲ 12×5 topics
  29. Social Protection469▲ 31×2 topics
  30. Primary Education469▲ 35×2 topics
  31. Conditional Cash Transfers469▲ 39×1 topic
  32. School Subsidies469▲ 39×1 topic
  33. Socio-economic Factors463▲ 12×3 topics
  34. Child Mortality458▲ 19×1 topic
  35. Health Systems458▲ 19×1 topic
  36. Empowerment383▲ 12×6 topics
  37. Financial Constraints374▲ 11×2 topics
  38. Poverty Alleviation365▲ 11×3 topics
  39. Financial Inclusion365▲ 21×1 topic
  40. Microfinance365▲ 21×1 topic

South Africa

▲ more of its work than of the world's◆ about the world's share▼ less than the world's
All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Climate Change4,986▲ 1.43×130 topics
  2. Sustainability4,915▲ 1.56×137 topics
  3. Epidemiology4,800◆ 0.94×140 topics
  4. Globalization4,533▲ 1.79×177 topics
  5. Machine Learning3,278▼ 0.77×97 topics
  6. Human Rights3,247▲ 2.5×88 topics
  7. Mental Health3,037▲ 1.65×48 topics
  8. Environmental Impact2,887▲ 1.32×72 topics
  9. Higher Education2,704▲ 4.0×34 topics
  10. Renewable Energy2,666▲ 1.43×61 topics
  11. Colonialism2,633▲ 4.3×49 topics
  12. Education2,535◆ 1.15×152 topics
  13. Sustainable Development2,520▲ 1.25×110 topics
  14. Economic Growth2,417▲ 2.3×37 topics
  15. Social Justice2,223▲ 2.9×53 topics
  16. Social Capital1,916▲ 2.9×21 topics
  17. South Africa1,591▲ 45×4 topics
  18. Nationalism1,540▲ 2.7×32 topics
  19. Development1,506▲ 3.3×23 topics
  20. Inequality1,451▲ 5.0×18 topics
  21. Antiretroviral Therapy1,327▲ 6.3×6 topics
  22. Environmental Governance1,301▲ 15×6 topics
  23. Equality1,234▲ 16×8 topics
  24. Poverty Reduction1,202▲ 7.2×7 topics
  25. Public Participation1,188▲ 42×3 topics
  26. Race1,174▲ 7.6×19 topics
  27. Judicial Review1,166▲ 11×5 topics
  28. Gender-based Violence1,164▲ 16×3 topics
  29. Postcolonialism1,160▲ 6.3×18 topics
  30. Constitutionalism1,141▲ 10×5 topics
  31. Consumer Protection1,141▲ 21×4 topics
  32. Legal Research1,128▲ 7.3×3 topics
  33. Developmental Local Government1,116▲ 84×1 topic
  34. Socio-Economic Rights1,116▲ 84×1 topic
  35. Decolonization974▲ 9.3×8 topics
  36. Poverty Alleviation928▲ 7.6×3 topics
  37. economic empowerment910▲ 44×2 topics
  38. post-apartheid910▲ 91×1 topic
  39. protests910▲ 91×1 topic
  40. NGOs883▲ 7.4×5 topics

Size is fractional works in the topics tagged with each word; colour is the word's share of the side's work against its share of the world's. Each word links to the topic it comes from most.

How has their output grown?

South Africa has out-published Kenya every year since 1980.

still counting20k40kSouth Africa31k in 2025Kenya7,818 in 20251990200020102020

Fractional works per year.

Their share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share, because all of science grows. Each line is a side as a percentage of every work published that year.

still counting0.20%0.40%0.60%South Africa0.53% in 2025Kenya0.13% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

The share of each side's works, year by year, that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. The average of all institutions is 10.0% (why not 10%).

still counting5%10%15%South Africa10.9% in 2025Kenya6.3% in 2025200020102020

A year with under 1% of the side's peak output is left out: a rate over a handful of papers says nothing. The latest years are still being cited.

Who holds more of the world's best institutions?

A country's average quality and the number of institutions it holds at the very top can disagree, and both are worth knowing. The counts are nested: an institution in the top 50 is also in the top 100.

Kenya 02 level3 South Africa
  1. 0In the world top 500
  2. 0In the top 1000
  3. 0In the top 5002
  4. 0In the top 1,0004
  5. #51Elite capacityrank among 204 countries#31

Institutions ranked on research quality, 2022-now. Elite capacity counts a country's institutions by their worldwide rank, weighted so a place at #1 counts for more than one at #480.

Which publishes more research, Kenya or South Africa?

South Africa publishes 3.9× as much research as Kenya in 2022-now (113k against 29k fractional works).

Whose research has more impact, Kenya or South Africa?

10.6% of South Africa's research reaches the world's top 10% most cited, against 5.7% for Kenya.

Is Kenya or South Africa growing faster?

Output in 2022-25 was +28% against 2018-21 for Kenya, and +17% for South Africa.

Which has more open access research, Kenya or South Africa?

70% of Kenya's research is free to read, against 49% of South Africa's.

Which has more world-class institutions, Kenya or South Africa?

Kenya holds 0 of the world's top 100 research institutions and South Africa 0; in the top 1,000 it is 0 against 4.

Which institutions lead in each country?

The highest-ranked institutions on each side on research quality, 2022-now. The percentage is each institution's own top-10% rate: the share of its works that are among the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. Every figure stands alone, so they do not add up to 100%.

Kenya

  1. 1Kenya Medical Research Institute12.2% top 10% · 708 works
  2. 2University of Nairobi4.8% top 10% · 3.1k works
  3. 3Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology3.7% top 10% · 2.4k works
  4. 4Moi University4.9% top 10% · 1.2k works
  5. 5Kisii University4.7% top 10% · 571 works
  6. 6Kenyatta University3.1% top 10% · 2.9k works

South Africa

  1. 1University of Cape Town10.9% top 10% · 7.2k works
  2. 2Stellenbosch University9.8% top 10% · 7.9k works
  3. 3University of the Witwatersrand10.5% top 10% · 8.9k works
  4. 4University of Johannesburg12.9% top 10% · 13k works
  5. 5University of Pretoria9.6% top 10% · 9k works
  6. 6University of South Africa10.9% top 10% · 9k works

The number is the rank inside the country. The track on each row is the top-10% rate; the tick is the average of all institutions, 10.0% (how it is set): teal above it, red below. The ranking is the quality score, which compares the rate with what each institution's own topics predict and adds a small reward for size, so the rates do not fall in order.

Who are the top researchers on each side?

The most cited researchers on each side, among those ranked.

Kenya

  1. 1 Robert William Snow #6,135 worldwide 58k citations · 677 works
  2. 2 Edwine Barasa #13,107 worldwide 9.2k citations · 311 works
  3. 3 Kevin Marsh #18,105 worldwide 58k citations · 689 works
  4. 4 J. Anthony G. Scott #24,316 worldwide 21k citations · 396 works
  5. 5 Menale B. Kassie #24,373 worldwide 14k citations · 263 works

South Africa

  1. 1 Surajit Bag #6,981 worldwide 13k citations · 234 works
  2. 2 Christopher H. Trisos #8,500 worldwide 15k citations · 130 works
  3. 3 Osaretin Christabel Okonji #8,695 worldwide 39k citations · 121 works
  4. 4 Crick Lund #10,675 worldwide 34k citations · 524 works
  5. 5 Benn K. D. Sartorius #10,888 worldwide 208k citations · 402 works

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