This study concerns the perceptions of African educators concerning the role of higher education in Africa. The study investigates African educators' awareness, understanding, opinions, and reactions to the role of higher education as defined by the Tananarive Conference on the development of higher education in Africa. The data were collected through personal interviews with 80 educators affiliated with the universities of the English—speaking countries in Middle Africa. The findings of the study reveal that (a) the Tananarive recommendations are still realistic and relevant to the African situation; (b) African educators agree that universities in Africa must contribute to the definition and development of African economic, social, and cultural goals; (c) African universities are judged mainly by how successfully their objectives and achievements improve society; (d) the critical problems confronting the African universities are finance, colonial origin, attachment to metropolitan models and standards, training of staff in overseas institutions, brain drain, and government interference; and (e) mutual trust and understanding of role-expectation between African governments and universities is required for universities to fulfill their developmental role in African societies.