This article studies issues of coloniality in so-called capacity-building
projects between universities in Africa and Scandinavia. Even fifty
years after independence, the African higher education landscape is
a product of the colonial powers and subsequent uneven power relations,
as argued by a number of researchers. The uneven geography
and power of knowledge exist also between countries that were not
in a direct colonial relationship, which the word coloniality implies.
Based on interviews with stakeholders and on our own experiences
of capacity-building projects, this article examines how such projects
affect teaching, learning, curriculum, research methodology and issues
of quality enhancement. We analyse the dilemmas and paradoxes
involved in this type of international collaboration and conclude by
offering ways to decolonise capacity-building projects.