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How Poland stole UK universities’ lunch in Africa

In recent years, Poland has quietly emerged as an unlikely magnet for African students, drawing thousands away from traditional destinations like the United Kingdom. Attracted by low tuition fees, accessible visas, and good educational standards, young Africans are finding in Central and Eastern Europe what Britain can no longer easily offer: affordability and opportunity.

December 7, 2025 - Ray Mwareya - Issue 6 2025MagazineStories and ideas

Copernicus monument in Warsaw Poland. Photo: photomaster / Shutterstock

Dramatic claims by Zimbabwe’s foreign minister in March that 10,000 students from her country are studying for degrees in Poland alone show a picture of how Central and Eastern European nations are gradually creaming away Africa’s academic talent from traditional tertiary schools in the United Kingdom and Western Europe.

“The UK is damn expensive; the Tories’ [Conservatives’] “hostile” immigration policy is intact in Labour’s time. I could be made to leave after graduation,” says Tanaka Garwe, a science student from Zimbabwe studying at the University of Information Technology and Management in Rzeszów, Poland.

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