Abstract

Many African countries are concerned with the targeting of international postgraduate students by developed countries for skilled migration. Increased provision of postgraduate studies within the continent would go a long way in dealing with the problem. Success will however depend on the ability of countries in the continent to attract international postgraduate students. This study aimed at investigating the factors that influence African postgraduate students’ choice of South Africa as their study destination. Focus group discussions, in depth interviews and a structured online questionnaire were the main methods used to collect the data. The findings show that factors related to lower cost of living and tuition as well quality of education offered are the main ones that influence postgraduate students’ choice of the country. The findings have wider implications on marketing of the country to international students and these have been highlighted in the paper.

Key words: African, international, postgraduate students