Includes bibliographical references (pages 285-304).

Preface -- Acknowledgement -- Acronyms and abbreviations -- Tables and figures -- Introduction -- Conceptual, theoretical and operationalization frameworks -- Conceptual frameworks -- Higher education and higher education systems -- Globalization and higher education -- Internationalization of higher education systems -- Regionalization of higher education -- Harmonization as a strategy for regionalization -- Theoretical framework -- Theories of regional integration -- Neo-functionalism -- Intergovernmentalism -- Regional integration theories and regionalization of higher education -- The application on actors dynamics -- Application on policy processes -- Operationalization framework -- Conclusion -- Higher education in Africa : a historical context -- The pre-colonial context -- Colonial context -- Anglophone colonial higher education settings -- Francophone colonial higher education settings -- Lusophone colonial higher education settings -- Concluding remarks -- Policy trends in post-independence Africa -- Developmental universities of the 1960s and 1970s -- The trends of Africanization -- The role as agent of state-building -- Period of crisis (1970s-1980S) -- High enrolment rates -- Faculty shortage and brain drain -- Quality and relevance -- Governance, leadership and management -- Changes and continuities in the post 1990S -- Economic recovery -- Re-positioning the role of higher education -- Re-aligning relevance to the market -- Growing concern on access, equity and quality -- Conclusion -- Implications of international trends and developments on regionalization processes of higher education in Africa -- Implications of globalization -- The introduction of market elements -- Growing trends of de-territorialization -- Internationalization of African higher education -- Student mobility in African higher education -- Inter-regional African students mobility trends -- Challenges of inter-regional student mobility -- Intra-regional African students mobility trends -- Challenges of intra-regional student mobility -- International partnership in higher education in Africa -- Challenges of higher education partnership in Africa -- Implications of globalization and internationalization on regionalization -- Conclusion -- The evolution of regionalization of higher education in Africa -- Early moves towards regionalization -- The au, nepad regional higher education dialogue -- Implications of external initiatives -- The bologna process in brief -- The implication of the bologna process -- Fragmented sub-regional initiatives in francophone Africa -- Fragmented sub-regional initiatives in Anglophone Africa -- Fragmented sub-regional initiatives in Lusophone Africa -- The evolutionary dynamics of regionalization in Africa -- Conclusion -- The African union higher education harmonization strategy : the political, functional and organizational dimensions -- The policy context -- Context within Africa higher education space -- Context within the institutional dynamics of the African Union -- Context within the African Union education policies -- The AU strategic plan 2004-2007 -- Second decade of education for Africa (2006-2015) -- The harmonization strategy -- The political dimension -- The rationales for higher education harmonization -- Goals and principles of the harmonization strategy -- The functional dimension -- Mobility : Mwalimu Nyerere mobility scheme -- Pan-African graduate training and research networks -- Tuning Africa -- Quality assurance and accreditation mechanisms -- The African quality rating mechanism (AQRM) -- African quality assurance network (AfriQAN) -- Organizational dimension -- Conclusion -- Challenges of the African union higher education harmonization strategy -- Introduction -- Political challenges -- The quest for legitimacy -- Top-down non-participatory approach -- Contents -- Functional challenges -- Challenges of Mwalimu Nyerere programme -- Challenges of the Pan-African university network -- Challenges of tuning Africa -- Challenges of Pan-African quality assurance and accreditation mechanisms -- Organizational challenges -- Institutional capacity -- Actors dynamics -- Fragmentation of functional processes -- Constraints of other enabling factors -- Summary and conclusion -- Introduction to the conclusion -- Research summary -- Key findings and implications -- Regionalization as a response to external pressure -- Regionalization as donor dependent and externally driven process with poor legitimacy at home -- Discrepancy between expectations and operationalization -- Considerations for future policy and research interventions -- Bibliography.