I recently took part in a panel on philanthropy and education during the annual conference of the Comparative and International Education Society in Mexico City (CIES 2018), Re-Mapping Global Education: South-North Dialogue. The panel focused on the interplay at both policy and delivery level between the public sector and the philanthropic one. Funding to higher education is dependent on both national and global shifts in the grantors’ country, and in the receptiveness of African governments and institutions to the modalities of private funding. Neo-liberal trends influencing foundations have promoted the notion of the knowledge economy, which sees higher education as crucial for economic growth.