University of Birmingham launches joint degrees with University of Lagos

The University of Birmingham and the University of Lagos have launched two joint master's degrees that will be taught in Nigeria.

Teaching on the one-year MSc in Artificial Intelligence and Data Technologies and the MA in Digital Media and Communications will begin in September 2027. The two universities signed a memorandum of understanding in January.

The launch

The programmes were launched in Lagos by Professor Nick Vaughan-Williams, Birmingham's provost, and Professor Folasade Ogunsola, vice-chancellor of the University of Lagos, in the presence of Nigeria's education minister, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa.

They have been developed with Nigeria's Ministry of Education and National Universities Commission, as part of a transnational education unit based in Lagos.

"We're proud to launch these programmes with our partners at UNILAG," Professor Vaughan-Williams said. "Together we're supporting Nigeria's tertiary education and talent needs, which are central to its ambitions for economic growth."

"Universities have a critical role in preparing graduates for rapidly changing global economies, supporting skills development, entrepreneurship, and employment opportunities."

Professor Ogunsola said the collaboration was "a major step towards globalising Nigeria's higher education".

What students will study

The MSc combines AI theory with practical skills, covering machine learning, deep learning, computer vision, large language models, data management and AI ethics. It is aimed at careers in financial technology, healthcare innovation, intelligent systems and business analytics.

The MA looks at how people communicate in a digital world, including digital cultures, power and identity, and the ethics of digital media, with skills in research, content creation and broadcasting for careers in communications or journalism.

Why teach overseas?

Transnational education, where students study for a UK degree in their own country, has grown quickly. It is usually cheaper for students than moving abroad, and lets universities reach many more of them.

The UK government's international education strategy names Nigeria as one of the key countries for this kind of partnership. Jonny Baxter, the British deputy high commissioner in Lagos, said the degrees showed "how our universities can work together to deliver world-class education that responds to the needs of a rapidly changing economy".

Donna McGowan, country director of the British Council in Nigeria, said studying for a UK postgraduate degree at home offered "a more affordable and accessible pathway to quality international education".

Existing links

The university already works in Nigeria. Its global surgery research unit has had a hub there for ten years, it has helped install solar power at a teaching hospital in Ile-Ife so operating theatres can keep running during blackouts, and this year it began a four-year project on maternal care in south-east Nigeria.

Nigeria has one of the youngest and fastest-growing populations in the world, and demand for university places there far exceeds supply.