Cheikh Ahmadoul Khadim University (UCAK) in Touba has reached a major milestone by receiving approval from the National Authority for Quality Assurance (ANAQ-Sup) for institutional accreditation to award bachelor's and master's degrees. University officials held a press conference on Wednesday, December 31, 2025, to explain the process behind this achievement and outline their ambition to obtain accreditation.

In his opening speech to the press, Serigne Ahmadou Badawi Mbacké, president of the Cheikh Ahmadoul Khadim complex in Touba, gave a historical overview of this temple of knowledge built by the general Khalif of the Mourides at a cost of 37 billion CFA francs.

Serigne Mountakha Mbacké fulfilled a wish of Khadim Rassoul by establishing this complex, which is recognized by the State of Senegal. After three years of operation, Serigne Ahmadou Badawi Mbacké reported a satisfactory outcome. He believes that the Cheikh Ahmadoul Khadim University of Touba will be among the best institutions. He thanked the Khalif Serigne Mountakha Mbacké and all those who have contributed to this project to date.

The rector of the Cheikh Ahmadoul Khadim University of Touba explained the implications of this accreditation: "We are meeting today in the presence of Serigne Amadou Badawi Mbacké, president of the Cheikh Ahmadoul Khadim complex of Touba, and under the Ndigueul of the general khalifa of the Mourides Serigne Mountakha Mbacké to present to you the results of the institutional accreditation of the Cheikh Amadoul Khadim University."

He clarified: "It is important to remember that, currently, the Senegalese government has established two criteria for recognizing diplomas issued in higher education, whether from a public or private university. There are only two criteria. The institution in question, which wishes to have its diplomas recognized, the university which wishes to have its diplomas recognized, must first have institutional authorization to issue its diplomas based on a decree issued by the Ministry of Higher Education. This is the first criterion."

"The second criterion for the recognition of diplomas is that the diplomas must be accredited after evaluation by ANAQ-Sup," he added.

Nine months of rigorous work

The rector detailed the evaluation process: "Taking into account the guidelines given by the General Khalif of the Mourides, applied by the president of the Cheikh Ahmadoul Khadim complex, Serigne Ahmadou Badawi Mbacké and all the managers of the complex, we thought that in the quality approach, in the approach of excellence required by the General Khalif of the Mourides, we must submit our university to the institutional accreditation procedure."

"That is why we responded to the ANAQ-Sup call for expressions of interest, so that we could be evaluated during the year 2025. This required, within the university, significant work that lasted more than nine months," he explained.

He continued: "We have complied with the ANAQ-Sup procedures, that is to say, submitting an application for accreditation, training the various actors who will be involved in the evaluation, evaluation by ourselves and external evaluation, but also using the self-assessment framework and submitting our self-assessment report."

"This involved setting up a committee, called the self-assessment steering committee, which met every Sunday for nine months to prepare the report that we submitted, as required by ANAQ-Sup from its website, providing our evidence," he explained.

Professor Lamine Guèye continued: "After submitting this report, ANAQ-Sup deemed it admissible and requested the university to organize a visit from external experts. Because ANAQ-Sup is not satisfied with the description of the university by those within the university, but sends external experts who come to evaluate the functioning of the university themselves."

"This December we received the team of experts appointed by ANAQ-Sup, who are competent in this field, who, after visiting the university, met with all stakeholders independently and transparently and prepared their external evaluation report, which they submitted to us. We received virtually no objections to this report," he revealed.

He announced: "This is why the ANAQ-Sup authorities brought this external evaluation report to the ANAQ-Sup scientific council, which declared that Cheikh Ahmadoul Khadim University received a favorable opinion for institutional accreditation during this session held recently at ANAQ-Sup. Now, this opinion has been transmitted to us. That is why we are talking about it today, to thank everyone, but also to make this opinion known to the entire Mouride community."

The rector emphasized the importance of this step: "It is important to note that this is a major result because it conditions the recognition of the diplomas we issue, but also it shows that the university meets the quality criteria expected of a university at the level of Senegal and internationally."

Finally, "I would like to thank all the people, all the authorities who have supported this university. It is the result of the Sheikh Ahmadoul Khadim complex. It is the result of the entire Mouride community, whom we thank for supporting the university in undertaking this process and for having, from the submission, from the in-depth study, a favorable opinion to award the diplomas."

"We are committed to moving towards another phase, which is the accreditation of diplomas. We are extremely optimistic about the progress of this phase because the experience gained in the accreditation process, which is quite a difficult procedure, will also allow us to approach the accreditations with serenity and, I think, a good result," said the rector.

A university open to all

Professor Lamine Guèye, under the supervision of his vice-rector Professor Ibrahima Thioub and the president of the Cheikh Ahmadoul Badawi Mbacké complex, was keen to clarify the university's mission: "I would like to take this opportunity to tell the entire Mouride community and all Senegalese people that this is not a university reserved for members of the Mouride community or students from Touba. Everyone is welcome here. We have a platform that is open to any high school graduate who wants to come to Cheikh Ahmadoul Khadim University."

He explained: "This means that, obviously, naturally, there is a strong demand from high school graduates from Touba who are heavily represented in our student population. But we have students who come from all regions of Senegal. As is also the case for the Quran Institute, which welcomes students who come from far away in the South. As is also the case for Majalis, which welcomes students who come from all over Senegal."

"So this is not a university reserved for the sons of the Mourides. It is a university of the Mouride community open to any Senegalese who wants to study Islamic sciences, Arabic languages or other professions taught in this university," he insisted.

The rector also mentioned the university's international openness: "Starting this year, we are even receiving students from abroad, particularly from the sub-region. Two Gambian high school graduates have arrived. We have a Guinean who has applied. There was even a Malian who applied. So it is a university open to all those who want to study these cultural sciences, as Serigne Mountakha Mbacké asked us to do."