A Content analysis of the vision and mission statements of top ten leading Universities in Africa

Abstract The vision and mission statements have the groundwork of any corporate strategy because they help to guide the institution’s mode of operation, develop a common purpose, foster a culture of mutual expectations, and also facilitate leadership styles. In more specific term, the vision and mission statement characterizes the most significant steps to be taken or completed by the university’s decision-maker. To accomplish this study, a sample of the top 10 African universities was analyzed using the Atlas.ti and the list was obtained from the Times Higher Education and the world’s best university ranking of 2022 in terms of their prestige and rivalry with other universities around the world. The findings highlight significant differences between the top 10 African universities’ vision statements and mission statements in terms that the vision statement trend toward a global influence which a deep drive for research and the mission statement was typically longer than the vision statement. However, this study fills a gap in the current literature in regard to universities in Africa by analyzing the vision and mission statements to determine their strategic intent. Altogether, the study contributes to the growing body of knowledge in the field of strategic management for universities in Africa.


Introduction
There has been a growing interest in how the vision and mission statements define universities' long-term planning. Scholars on the subject have principally examined mission and vision optimum modules, the internal and external influences that may form them, and their connection to actions and behaviors to determine if mission and vision statements are important. The mission and vision statements are the foundation of any strategic plan because they help to guide the institution's strategy, characterize the institution's mode of operations, come up with a common purpose, enhance a culture of mutual expectations, and facilitate leadership styles. However, every institution is expected to establish its goals and values and that its aims, methods, and objectives can be defined and identified using the vision and mission statements. Thus, an institution's mission and vision statement outlines its goals and acts as a guide for everyone who works for that university. To be more explicit, a mission and vision statement defines the most extra great strides to be accomplished or completed by the university's decision-makers. The mission and vision are the statements that inform employees and stakeholders about the institution's purpose and how they intend to proceed. They perceive it as a reflection of their commitment to themselves and other stakeholders. The notion that vision and mission statements are now issued subject to examination throughout an accreditation program demonstrates their relevance. Their importance as the preliminary step for an institution's operation and management is frequently considered at the outset of the assessment, as is how they are based on rules, practices, and standards that are executed.
The mission statements of an organization specify what institutions are now -simply its purpose or rationale for existence, whereas the vision statement describes what each university intends to do in the future (Babnik et al., 2014;Kopaneva & Sias, 2015). Since researchers and practitioners have focused on organizational purpose and vision, interest in universities' vision and mission has also grown, driven by the desire for institutions to stand out from the crowd (Giusepponi & Tavoletti, 2018;Kosmützky & Krücken, 2015;Vasudeva & Mogaji, 2020). Institutions with a mission and vision statements are anticipated to be more productive and valuable than those without one, and completing the mission and vision statement process demonstrates that a corporation is intelligent, designs accurately collaborates, and makes educated judgments. However, given the tremendous level of focus on the study of vision and mission statements in institutions, there has been little or no information available on African Universities (Mogaji et al., 2017). Although some have existed for many years, most research has concentrated on Europe and other continents, and there has been a deficit in understanding regarding African universities. There is also the issue of researchers emphasizing one variable over another; in the case of the vision statement, there is a case of limited literature review in light of them, whereas the mission statement has been examined by many researchers. This leads to more importance on the mission statement than the vision statement, and based on existing knowledge, the two concepts are essential in higher educational institutions. Therefore, the present paper aims to examine how the top-ranked universities in Africa vary based on their mission and vision statements and also how they convey to stakeholders and members of the public their principal purposes, values, aims, and objectives as well as what they express as their vision and ambitions for student learning performance. The study also intends to enhance this understanding by delving deeper into how a well-crafted vision and mission statement of each African institution is important for its functioning and evaluation. The top 10 leading universities in Africa were collected from the Times Higher Education and the world's best university ranking of 2022 in terms of their prestige and rivalry with other universities around the world.

Literature review
The effectiveness of institutions' strategic plans is dependent on their vision and purpose statements (Ozdem, 2011). It is expected that every higher education institution should articulate its goals and principles because universities have been distinguished as the most critical and important engine for teaching, research, social impacts, and economic progress all over the world (Salau et al., 2020). Ekeagbara et al. (2019) established that universities operate in a complex environment, and the institutions' management must develop strategies that are dependent on their vision and mission statements that will allow the universities to compete and remain relevant in the industry. Higher education institutions need to focus more on meeting the requirements and expectations of their customers because they are in the business of providing services (Borishade et al., 2021). There have been several points of view on the origins of vision and mission statements in universities. Davies and Glaister (1997) and Kotler and Murphy (1981) indicated that vision and purpose statements were part of the higher institutions as early as the 1980s. According to Scott (2006), most universities in Africa, America, Australia, and Asia had already adopted Europe's teaching objectives and primitive model, which possesses the option to administer examinations, grant degrees, begin educational meetings, and provide the appropriate framework. Gradually, the development of a vision and mission statements seems to have become the standard in most educational institutions. A mission is a unique statement or combination of statements that serve as a direction for the institution and its stakeholders (Dedousis, 2018). These statements represent the institution's primary aims, aspirations, and distinctive characteristics. A mission statement, according to Bayrak (2020), represents the scope in which higher institution functions and it is a directive statement that specifies the course of action necessary for effective strategic and operational choices. Tian (2005) defined a mission statement as a company's operational, morally acceptable, and financial guiding lights, and David (2010) also supported that mission statements are referred to as creed statements, philosophical statements, statements of convictions, and declarations of corporate aims. According to Liggett (2022), a mission statement can be a useful tool for any institution because it clearly articulates what a group intends to do, how they intend to do it, and why their efforts are important. The mission statement does not generally fully convey the mission, but it is more entirely encased in a series of statements that characterize the institutions such as the mission statement, vision statement, and value statements. According to Pearce (1982), a mission statement is a long-term document of purpose that separates one institution from others of its kind. However, Pearce (1982) also proposed that eight essential components could be defined after analyzing the contents of a few organizations' mission statements which are ideal customers, product or services, market, foremost technology, concern for survival, progress and profitability, philosophy, and self-concept and concern for public image. These components may be used as a guideline for crafting a wellsuited mission statement, and also according to Pearce (1982), a well-crafted mission statement addresses the following questions about institutions: • Customers: who are the company's current and prospective customers?
• Goods or Service: what are the main products or services of the institution?
• Markets: in which markets does the institution compete?
• Technology: what is the fundamental technology of the institution?
• Concern for survival, development, and profitability: how does the institution see economic goals?
• Philosophy: what are the institution's fundamental beliefs, values, objectives, and philosophical priorities?
• Self-concepts: what are the primary strengths and competitive advantages of the institution? And • Public image concern: what is the institution's public image?
Then, Campbell and Yeung (1991) also established that instead of the eight components, an institution's mission statement should be classified into four factors which are purpose, behavior, values, and strategy. It is also seen as a vital element for the outstanding performance of educational institutions (Ganu, 2013). Pearce and David's concept was updated to better represent the environment of higher education as follows: Customers are represented as students, markets and geographical domains are merged, and degrees are employed in place of products/services. Furthermore, because distinctiveness is essential to survival, development, and profitability, it replaces these three characteristics, although self-concept and public image are partly captured by philosophy and contribution.
In Table 1, it is shown that each African institution has a distinct mission statement that is unique to each university and also has utilized the Pearce (1982) components of the mission statement to draft the statement. For instance, the UCT utilized the following component when crafting the mission statement: goods and service, market, concern for survival, development and profitability, and self-concepts, while in UI, concern for survival, development and profitability, customers, technology, self-concepts, philosophy, and public image were considered during the crafting of the mission statement. Therefore, institutions that want to stand out among their competitors should consider the eight components of the mission statement by Pearce (1982). 3

University of Witwatersrand
The mission of the University of the Witwatersrand is to grow its global stature as a leading researchintensive university, and to be a gateway to research engagement and intellectual achievement in Africa.

University of Cape Coast
The University of Cape Coast is an equal opportunity University uniquely placed to provide quality education through the provision of comprehensive, liberal and professional programs that challenge learners to be creative, innovative and responsible citizens.

5
University of Kwazulu-Natal A truly South African University of Choice that is academically excellent, innovative in research, entrepreneurial, and critically engaged with society.
6 Addis Ababa University Addis Ababa University's mission is to produce competent graduates, provide need-based community service and produce problemsolving research outputs through innovative and creative education, research and consultancy service to foster social and economic development of the country.

7
Aswan University Aswan University is committed to providing the best education and research services opportunities to the students and the larger community with a level of quality comparable to the regional and international standards and providing an education based on scientific research to encourage students doing their utmost to become experienced graduates qualified for the changing circumstances.
Adebanke Olusola et al., Cogent Education (2022) A vision statement shows how much an organization intends to be and how it wishes to be perceived throughout its existence (Behm & Berthold, 2011). According to Campbell and Yeung (1991), a vision statement represents an organization's thinking in terms of basic values and selfperception. Furthermore, Cortés-Sánchez (2017) stated that, in addition to research, a university's vision statement should have a worldwide perspective. Slintak and Dvorshy (2019) have suggested that a vision statement reveals the purposes of the institutions. The statement of the method the corporation will go from its starting point, the destination, and the motivation for this activity is referred to as vision. The vision statement should aid in the creation of the university's brand identity; it becomes a crucial instrument in expressing the values, distinctiveness, and distinctions of institutions (Dumanig & Symaco, 2022). According to Allison (2019), a vision statement can be studied in three different areas, and the first obvious area is that there is a connection between a vision statement and organizational performance because it helps employees set goals and objectives that improve their performance and as a result, enhances customer satisfaction. The second area is focused on the content of the vision statement because there has been a hurdle that institutions draft the vision statement poorly and sometimes without emphasis. Since then, whether by coincidence or not, considerable study has focused on the factors that • To produce graduates who are worthy in character and sound judgment.

S/N Institutions Mission Statement
• To contribute to the transformation of society through creativity and innovation.
• To serve as a dynamic custodian of society's salutary values and thus sustain its integrity.
10 Ferhat Abbas Setif University 1 The mission of the University as well defined by the Higher Education Orientation Act is built around economic, social, and cultural development through the training of professional staff and technology transfer to its environment.
must be included in a vision statement. Some scholars have concentrated on the duration of time, while others concentrated on the statement's inspiring and challenging aims (MacLeod, 2016;Meade & Rogers, 2001). However, MacLeod (2016) added a clause that the statement's substance is meaningless if the vision is taken for granted. The ultimate area is how the vision statement is put into action and how it is conveyed to internal stakeholders to direct their activities. The vision also communicates management's aim to stakeholders, and a good vision, according to Kantabutra and Avery (2010), should be Concise -a vision statement should be too long, but it should also not be too short.
Clear -the vision statement should be unambiguous for everyone to grasp the message.
Future-oriented -the vision statement should center on the institution's long-term goals.
Challenging -the message should compel individuals to take action to achieve the desired result.
Inspiring -the vision statement should reflect a worthwhile concept.
Abstraction -the statement should represent the overall concept rather than a specific achievement.
Numerous studies have been conducted around the world to understand the noteworthiness of mission and vision statements in higher education. Firmin and Gilson (2010) examined the mission statements from CCCU member universities in the United States. It was discovered that the majority of their established remarks were about education, society, existence religion, and academics and also emphasized the goals of educational existence. In another survey of Scottish institutions, Kuenssberg (2011) found that each university's mission statements are similar and require distinctiveness. Then, Kosmützky (2012) researched mission statements at German universities and discovered that these declarations seem to be beneficial in developing and integrating statutory authority requirements. Based on the findings above, employees are identified to have a significant part in attaining educational missions. Furthermore, it was shown that the majority of the employees or internal stakeholders in these universities were unaware of their unique mission statements.
Historical and political backgrounds have a substantial impact on the formation of the mission and vision statements. Cortés-Sánchez (2017) also researched the mission and vision statement of the Columbia using educational institutions from across the world. In the study, the number of universities from Africa and South America was small compared to those from other continents. The findings indicated that universities need to be more self-aware of their mission and vision statement. There was a high overall emphasis on stakeholders and an extensive focus on research and teaching the mission and vision statements. Then, the mission statement was often lengthier than the vision statement and majorly focused on education, research, culture, students, and welfare. Furthermore, it was discovered that the South American universities' mission and vision statements were longer than those of Asian and European universities. Efe and Ozer (2015) also established in their study that compared to the mission statement, there is a scarcity of research on the university vision statement. To supplement the limited research on vision statements, Vasudeva and Mogaji (2020) investigated the vision and mission statement in 36 African Universities, concluding that the universities lacked the identified elements and that the universities should take responsibility for producing employable graduates. In the findings, it was discovered that there is a need to understand how different universities have their own unique vision and mission statements and how to differentiate them through the statements. The research also has implications for the management of the university, marketing communication teams, and other members involved in defining and revising the university's long-term direction. Although the study was carried out on 36 African Universities, they concluded that the number of the universities was subject to change because of the year the data was collected and the world ranking of each university might have changed throughout the research. However, in comparison to mission statements, relatively little study has been undertaken on vision statements in African universities. Furthermore, the study discovered a scarcity of research in terms of examining the function of mission statements in African institutions. Kumang and Ahman (2020) examined the vision statement of higher education institutions in Indonesia and their findings discovered that the vision created by institutions has a strategic plan to improve the quality and position of education on a national and international scale. Then, Ozdem (2011) assessed the mission and vision statements of Turkey's public universities and discovered that the most prevalent mission statement concentrated on the education of qualified personnel, while the mission statements most frequently centered on research duties. Gözükara (2015), in the mission and vision statement of foundation universities in the field of university roles, found that foundation universities prefer using similar messages in their statements which is about teaching and training because it is beneficial to the university to diversify the content of their message in such a way that it will contain two main functions which are research and interest of the public. The limitation identified was that the universities placed little concern on social welfare and that the foundation university should assess its mission and vision statement in line with the correct strategic planning formulation.

Methodology
This research concentrated on the vision and mission statements of the top 10 ranked universities in Africa. The information was searched and obtained from the world-ranking African Universities in the 2022 Times Higher Education World University Rankings. The ranking is a comprehensive list of the top universities in the world based on teaching, research, international reputation, public image, and other inclusive factors. Moreover, the Times Higher Education Website listed 71 Africa Universities in 2022. After identifying the top 10 best universities in Africa, each website was visited and the mission and vision statement was copied into an individual text file, but no other statement was used if the mission and vision statement was not available. Although it was expected that the statements would have been easily accessible via the about us page or a dropdown menu, this was not the case, instead few universities had the statements in the subdomain, whereas others required the use of the search button. Also, one of the initial 10 universities searched did not have a mission statement and some websites were not in English which require the use of translation. Thus, the stipulated 10 African universities became the final sample and the mission and vision statement for each university was collected in January 2022.
The top 10 African universities ranked in the 2022 Times Higher Education World University Ranking are presented in Table 2.
Content analysis is a qualitative approach that is frequently used to analyze message content and processing. It is the process of selecting a textual message to be investigated, defining measurement categories, measuring the frequency of the presence of the sections using coding rules, administering a suitable statistical test to the data acquired, and finally generating conclusions. After identifying the highest-ranked universities in Africa, two content analysis tools were used for the study. The first was Textalyzer which was used to calculate the number of words for each vision and mission statement. Textalyzer is an online free text mining system that generates statistical data and also analyses keyword density and word counts accurately. The vision statement is 244 words long, and the mission statement is 641 words long. The Atlas.ti software was used as the second mission and vision statement content analysis tool for this study, and it was used to identify the top two most widely used words that appeared in the mission and vision statements of each African university. The most frequent words are "research" which occurred 14 times and "graduates/students" which occurred 8 times in the mission statements. The content was analyzed based on the eight identified components of mission statements which are graduates/students, philosophy, technology, product/services, markets, self-concept, public image, and distinctiveness. Figure 1 showcases the analysis of each component of the mission statement for each university.

Distinctiveness
The distinctiveness component represents 9% of the mission statements, and as stated in the literature, it explains survival, development, and profitability of institution. However, from the analysis of the mission statements, University of Cape Town stated the need to advance their status and distinctiveness of scholarship in Africa through building strategic partnership.  Figure 1. Analysis of the Mission Statement.
The university's mission statement also stated the need for transformation within the university and beyond, inclusive institutional culture, and high importance on diversity. Moreover, the University of Witwatersrand also highlighted the principles of intellectual excellence, highacademic standard, cutting-edge research, and productive partnership.

Graduates/students
This component simply addresses the identified stakeholder or customers in the mission statements of each African university and it constitutes 15% of the mission statements. This section comprises students and graduates of each university that end up graduating from the universities and joining the labor workforce and using the obtained certificates to apply for employment. They are an essential stakeholder of the university because they carry the legacy of the university everywhere they go or gain employment. The University of Cape Town aimed to produce graduates and future leaders who are influential locally and globally, and the University of Ibadan also recognizes the importance of producing graduates with character and sound judgment.

Products/services
The product and service component comprises the product or services provided by the institutions even though the degree component was not stated in any of the mission statements of the African universities. The universities included the goods or services they aim to provide which constitute 20% of the mission statements, and there was a similar component of entrepreneurial spirit in the mission statement of the University of Kwazulu-Natal and training of professional staff and technology transfer in Ferhat Abbas Setif University. Addis Ababa University also proposed the factor of producing a problem-solving research output that will be beneficial to both the institution and the entire world.

Markets
This component comprises 5% of the mission statement of the top 10 African universities selected for this study and addresses an overview of the essential mission such as teaching, the best education, and other aspects in which the institutions compete.

Philosophy
This component constitutes 23% of the mission statement of the 10 African universities because each has a fundamental belief, values, objectives, and priorities that are beneficial to both the institutions and the outside world. This is an important priority for universities as it showcases their purpose for existence and the need for the universities to place a huge emphasis on their commitment to teaching and offering high academic programs and also creating an energizing environment that is conducive to learning.
The University of Witwatersrand emphasizes the importance of establishing an institution that is dedicated to providing high-quality, competitive global education based on highly significant academic standards. The University of Cape Coast also noted in its mission statement about uniquely providing quality education through the provision of comprehensive, liberal, and professional programs that motivate learners to be creative and innovative. Other universities also explicitly explain the importance of quality education and also provide quality career-focused education.

Self-image/public image
This component is the most used in the universities and it constitutes 14% of the mission statement of the African universities. It also includes the principles and values that guide the mission of each university. Under this component, each university used a key action word that makes them distinct from the other universities. In the case of Stellenbosch University, it is stated that the university is a research-intensive institution with essential needs to attract outstanding students and employ talented employees. With this as the self-concept, a potential student already has basic knowledge that the institution places high importance on research. The University of Cape Coast also uses an equal opportunity university as their public image which equivalently means that people can apply despite their tribe or background. The University of Kwazulu-Natal also used the statement of being a truly South African university of choice.

Service to society/ self-concepts
Another most mentioned term in most African universities because of the need to contribute to society and impact their community and it constitutes 15% of the mission statements. The University of Cape Town placed high importance on the need for their scholarship and research to have a positive impact on their society and environment. The University of Witwatersrand and the University of Kwazulu-Natal both have a mission to critically engage society and the public at large. Addis Ababa University also stated the need to engage in community service and also foster the social and economic development of the country. The University of Ibadan also establishes the essence of serving as a dynamic custodian of societal salutary values.

Intellectual environment/technology
Aside from providing a stimulating service for society, the need for an intellectual environment is also essential and this involves the unique value that attracts and connects people from all over the world. Although, technology seems to have the most important mode to connect worldwide and attract a wide range of customers, none of the institution's mission statements stated the use of technology except the University of Cape Town supports by stating the basis of providing a thriving and supportive academic reputation that connects people or individual from everywhere in the globe.
Moreover, according to Vasudeva and Mogaji (2020), the vision statement comprises four main questions which are as follows: what we want, when we want it, how we want it, and where we want it. Figure 2 summarizes the essential questions from each African university's vision statement.

What we want
This simply means what each university seeks to achieve in the nearest future and it is the highest frequency with 38.1% of the selected universities. This segment consists of key themes such as world-class institutions, pioneers, and leading universities.

World-class institutions
African universities set their vision on the distinct purpose of becoming the worldwide universities in the entire seven continents. For instance, the University of Ibadan aspires to be a world-class institution, and also the University of Cape Town has the vision of influencing the global higher education landscape. Then, Durban University of Technology looks toward achieving high-quality education from a global perspective, and Stellenbosch University, the second-ranked university, has the vision to be globally recognized.

Pioneer
The University of Kwazulu-Natal seeks to be the premier university of African scholarship. Pioneering is simply setting the place for other universities or simply leading other universities. Being a pioneer is also an advantage because it makes the university distinctive and also prompts the university to continually undergo unique and essential self-evaluation in the aspects of quality education, learning, and societal impact.

Leading institutions
Although the selected African universities are ranked as the top 10 best universities, they still seek to be a leading example for other universities. Stellenbosch University aims to be Africa's leading research-intensive university; likewise, the University of Witwatersrand has the vision to be a leading world-class research-intensive university. Also, Aswan University aspires to be one of the distinct governmental universities.

When we want it
This component constitutes 14% and it seeks to address the stipulated time or year an institution seeks to achieve their vision or the year as stated in their vision statement. It simply involves the stipulated time frame for the vision to be accomplished. The University of Witwatersrand aims to be firmly established among the world's top-league universities by 2022, while Addis Ababa University also aims to be among the top 10 pre-eminent African research universities by 2023.

How we want it
This component simply entails how each university seeks to achieve the stated vision and it represents 19% of the universities. The University of Cape Town seeks to achieve the vision through advancing equitable and sustainable social order, and Stellenbosch University also wants to advance knowledge in a service society. Aswan University also seeks to estimate its education, scientific research, creative abilities, and public service. Durban University of Technology aspires to develop leadership in a technology that will majorly impact the institution.

Where we want it
The last component of the vision statement contains 28% of the universities and it simply takes into account the location in which the vision is set; it is mostly geographic but not limited to the African continent. Each university has an agenda that can be locally, regionally, and internationally driven. The University of Cape Town aspires to be an inclusive and committed research-intensive African university, similar to Stellenbosch University, while the university of Witwatersrand aspires to be an international research-intensive university, and Addis Ababa University is also stated to be one of the top 10 pre-eminent African research universities. And lastly, the University of Ibadan is gearing up to be a world-class academic institution. However, with the universities identified above, it can vastly be said that some universities seek global domination and some just seek local and regional domination which is explicitly stated in their vision statement.

Discussion of finding
The research aimed to explore how the top-ranked universities in Africa vary based on their wellcrafted mission and vision statement and also how they convey to stakeholders and members of the public their principal purposes, values, aims, and objectives, as well as their importance in their functioning and evaluations. The findings of this study revealed that the top global components included in African universities' mission statements are self-image/public image, distinctiveness, graduates, and so on, while the vision statement is what we want, where we want, and how we want it. In terms of the mission statement, the study used the eight components which are mentioned in the literature review. Based on the findings, the universities want to essentially perform three important functions which are research, society service/impact, and teaching. Each selected African university placed significant importance on providing careerfocused education, producing competent graduates and students, engaging with society, and strategic partnership. The mission statements established that each university put their stakeholders into consideration and how to satisfy them in different ways.
In the aspect of the vision statements, the majority of the African universities are focused on what they want to achieve for themselves. Based on the findings, the most common themes in their vision statements were as follows: to become world-class institutions and pioneers in African scholarship and universities, but placed little emphasis on how they wanted to achieve the vision statements. However, few universities were able to effectively identify and establish the vision statement by using the following themes as Africa's leading research-intensive university, globally recognized, and research outreach. Another important finding in this study is that only about two universities stated the timeframe for the actualization of the vision whereby placing a small focus on the mode of operation, location, and time-related aspect of the vision statement.
The findings of this study can assist university executives in crafting a proper mission and statement which will be enhanced in terms of strategic planning and functioning. Strategic planning effectiveness is dependent on the right formulation of mission and vision statements, as well as broad participation in their formation. Mission and vision statements may help to shape an institution's corporate identity. The mission statement reveals the institution to the general public and differentiates it from others by showcasing its distinguishing traits. Therefore, universities need to recognize and underline their distinguishing traits in their mission and vision statements because it shows their abilities and objectives to the general public. The first contribution based on the findings is that strategic planning in the university's mission and vision statements should be amended based on basic characteristics such as creativity, motivation, and credibility. Another implication will be that universities should consider variables such as the university's reason for being, the geography in which it is located, its human resources, objectives and goals, intended audience, the field of service, and the demands the institution wants to answer when developing mission and vision statements. It is also important that the African universities plan and carry out regular studies on how well mission and vision statements are being implemented and how they affect organizational performance.
Also, the finding of this study showed that the mission statements of the selected African universities are longer than the vision statements. A thorough mission statement is expected to describe the organization's strategy, purpose, standards, and behavior which can serve as a drive for the vision statement. For instance, Stellenbosch University's mission statement is to be a research-intensive university while also attracting outstanding students and also providing an equitable environment while also enriching local, continent, and global communities. In contrast, the vision statement of the University of Kwazulu-Natal is to be a preferred premier university of African scholarships.
Finally, this finding will contribute to existing knowledge of vision and mission statement and how African universities can formulate compelling statements that will distinguish the institution from others. The study also affirms the critical must for universities to generate quality graduates, and while the concept is from an African perspective, it presents the research objectives to be investigated further.

Conclusion and recommendation
In this study, the vision and mission statement was explored based on the top 10 African universities. It is expected of every university to have a formal mission and vision statement, even though the vision and mission statements may differ based on each university's location, and cultural and economic concept. However, mission statement and vision statements have been widely used as strategic planning tool, but they also define and establish the current reason and future course of action of institutions associated with internal or external operations.
The study also adds to the body of knowledge of vision and mission statement in the context of higher education. The study's primary goal is to assist decision-makers in each university in examining the prevalent themes in a pool of mission and vision statements from African universities. Despite the fact that the research has been carefully carried out, providing excellent information and insight, there have been identified limitations that require attention and need future studies.
The research was confined to the top 10 ranked African universities; it would be interesting to increase the sample size and also divide the universities into private and public universities. Likewise, a follow-up study could be carried out to examine the impact of the vision and mission statement on students/graduates and other stakeholders, including their understanding of the mission statement and how it influences their decisions and operations.