The paper examines whether greater accessibility to electronic money boosts financial inclusion in WAEMU countries over 2010–2022. Using annual data and Method-of-Moments Quantile Regression (MMQR) to tackle heterogeneity and endogeneity—plus IV-2SLS robustness checks—the authors find that both geographic and demographic penetration of e-money service points significantly increase financial inclusion. Two mechanisms drive the results: (1) expanding formal financial services (payments, transfers, savings) to rural and peri-urban areas by cutting transaction and travel costs; and (2) a catalytic effect that is stronger where initial inclusion is higher, deepening usage among already banked populations. Additional positive correlates include schooling, trade openness, mobile subscriptions, and internet access. Despite progress, WAEMU’s inclusion rate lags developing-country averages, implying a need to scale digital infrastructure, security/trust measures, and human-capital investments.

Governance, Démographie, Inclusion

The article explores how in Africa the law is increasingly used as a “pimping” tool for gerontocratic regimes, undermining substantive democracy. It argues that although the post-independence era held promise for law as social regulation, it became captured by privatized state institutions and used to eliminate opposition rather than secure alternation. Cases in Benin, Senegal and Cape Verde are discussed as (relatively) positive exceptions, while in countries such as Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon and Chad, candidacies are constrained and civil rights subverted. Law becomes flexible, adapting to the interests of those in power and thereby reinforcing hybrid and gerontocratic systems. The author calls for a reinvention of citizenship, a law in service of life rather than exclusion, and a stronger role for civil society to reposition politics beyond mere elections.

Governance, Democracy, Election, Inclusion, Gerontocracy

The article highlights that the quality of education in West Africa is largely dependent on teachers’ skills and commitment, yet significant gaps remain in both initial and ongoing training tailored to local contexts. It points out that while corporal punishment has been banned in some countries such as Benin, Mali, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal, this legal change has often not been paired with effective pedagogical tools and disciplinary strategies for teachers. Current training schemes frequently fail to align with classroom realities and student needs. The piece calls for comprehensive reform: modernization of teacher training curricula, stronger practical training, responsiveness to social and pedagogical changes, and an improvement in teachers’ working conditions. It urges policymakers, trainers and education systems to act so that teacher training becomes a real lever for transformative education.

Governance, Education, Réforme

This article assesses the strategic planning of education in Côte d’Ivoire, highlighting key strengths and weaknesses. The authors used document analysis and a survey of 301 strategic and operational stakeholders active between December 2022 and April 2023. They found that the prioritisation of education (with 92% of actions financed publicly) and the diversity of educational partners are major strengths. However, the participation rate of operational actors remains low (19%), as decision-making is not sufficiently translated into operational action and there is a strong siloing between the strategic and operational levels. This lack of connectivity limits stakeholder engagement and undermines the effective implementation of plans. The study concludes that enhancing operational involvement, dismantling silos, and strengthening trust and communication among actors are key to improving strategic education planning.

Governance, Education

The article examines how leadership exercised by primary-level school principals (DES) in Côte d’Ivoire contributes to improving student achievement. Faced with many children struggling to master expected competencies, the authors analyse principals’ professional practices, linking them to pedagogical, administrative and organisational management. They show that principals assume multiple responsibilities: mobilising teachers, monitoring learning, involving the school community. However, some challenges remain: gaps in principals’ training, heavy administrative burdens, weak institutional support, which limit the actual impact of these actions. The article concludes by recommending strengthening the role of principals through targeted training, improved working conditions and systemic support to make leadership genuinely tied to student success.

Governance, Education

The article argues that digital transformation in West Africa holds enormous potential for social change but also risks worsening inequality if not grounded locally. It states that the digital shift must be built on local priorities: connecting rural areas, tailoring training programs, supporting youth digital entrepreneurship, and mobilising governments, businesses, universities and civil society. With a large share of future labour market entrants coming from sub-Saharan Africa by 2030, the region faces urgent challenges: reliable internet, digital skills and access remain highly unequal, particularly in rural zones. The piece cites examples such as Benin, Senegal and Nigeria to highlight existing initiatives. It stresses the need for inclusive digital governance, appropriate infrastructure and ethical frameworks, so that technology becomes a tool for empowerment rather than exclusion.

Governance, Transition, Numérique, Inclusion

This OECD publication examines the financing of social protection in Senegal, focusing on social assistance, contributory schemes and the informal sector’s contribution. It finds that public social protection spending is very low and that fewer than one in four Senegalese benefit from a protection programme. The report explores three main funding sources: general taxation (broadening tax base, health-harmful product taxes), social contributions (narrow base and governance issues) and mobilising the informal workforce (via formalisation and contribution). It offers recommendations to expand fiscal space, improve data systems, establish more effective governance (including through the future Universal Social Protection Fund — CAPSU) and combat social contribution evasion.

Governance, Politique publique, Protection, Funding

In this article, Anta Barry explores the evolution of the concept of human security in the Sahel region and argues that its ambition is increasingly unattainable. The central Sahel namely Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso represents a paradox: a territory rich in resources yet undermined by weak governance, colonial legacies, mis-aligned development policies and recurrent political instability. The notion of human security, initially focusing on protecting individuals from economic, political and environmental threats, is confronted with a “poly-crisis”: terrorist insecurity, climate change, food crises and the retreat of the state from basic services. Barry criticises the application of standardised international models that fail to reflect Sahelian realities and highlights the shrinking political space of states in the face of powerful external actors. The article concludes that without a rethink of approaches and a genuine empowerment of local actors, the ideal of human security in the Sahel will remain in crisis.

Governance, Climate change, Security, Development, Food security, Crisis

This study by Evans Yeboah and Václav Adamec, published in the Journal of Social and Economic Development (Springer Nature, June 9 2025), examines the effects of investment and trade on economic performance across twelve ECOWAS member states from 1993 to 2022. Using PMG-ARDL and NARDL estimation techniques, the paper finds that gross capital formation and trade openness positively influence long-run GDP per capita growth, whereas population growth, labor participation, unemployment, merchandise trade, and FDI exert negative effects. External debt is statistically insignificant in the long term. In the short term, increases in FDI and merchandise trade enhance income growth. Nonlinear estimations show that both increases and decreases in FDI dampen growth, while trade expansion boosts economic performance. The authors recommend promoting trade liberalization, improving FDI quality, ensuring sustainable debt management, and implementing labor-market reforms and export diversification strategies.

Governance, Economic Development, Trade, Economic growth