Whose questions and whose answers? Rebooting the SDGs and resetting higher education transformations for sustainable futures

Purpose While there is a call for transformation of higher education in the “majority world,” especially in Africa, the agenda is set from the Western perspective. As a result, this perpetuates African scholarship as merely an appendage of Eurocentric methodologies, a situation exacerbated by imbibing Westernised curriculum. This paper probes the question, “Whose questions and whose answers?”, with a view to propagate for rebooting the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and resetting the higher education transformation agenda that is relevant to the African context. Design/methodology/approach This paper forms an opinion based on the authors' scholarly personal narratives, that is, a constructivist research methodology that recognises the researcher's personal experience as a valid object of study. Personal experience forms a central focus of, and resource for, this paper, as the authors have close to or over 30 years in the higher education space, and some of these years were at a higher echelon position. Findings The paper established that African universities are encumbered by the hegemony and imposition of Western/and or foreign influences, which limit the solution to Africa's grand societal challenges. Hence, to deepen the liberation of knowledge from its elitist and colonial captivity, knowledge creation and mobilisation can no longer be the sole preserve of scholars who have been largely influenced by dominant forms of knowledge. African universities are urged to break free from the knowledge orthodoxy of the North. Research limitations/implications This paper has the obvious limitation of relying mostly on our opinions and experiences within South Africa, which has the potential for subjectivity and interpretation bias. A further empirical study is recommended to cover many universities in the African continent. Originality/value While the discourse in the higher education landscape is on institutionalising SDGs, this paper provides a different perspective of rebooting the SDGs to be relevant to the African setting. This may allow for the resetting of higher education transformations for sustainable futures in Africa.