Education in the WAEMU: Current Situation and the Way Forward

This paper makes the case for prioritizing the education sector in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) by taking stock of the outcomes and documenting its macroeconomic relevance. Education outcomes across the WAEMU region remain relatively weak, while empirical estimates indicate that improvements could lead to large income gains. Given a young population and high fertility rate, ramping up the progress in education remains critical, including by exploring options to enhance quality, safeguarding related spending, closing gender gaps, and improving the resilience of the education systems to climate and health shocks. Beyond national efforts, regional coordination and cooperation have a crucial role in achieving better education outcomes.