• Côte d’Ivoire approved $595M budget for higher education in 2026
  

• Funds target infrastructure upgrades, faculty hiring, and research improvements
  

• Sector faces strain from rising enrollment, outdated facilities, and digital gaps
  

Côte d’Ivoire approved a 338.78 billion CFA franc ($595 million) budget for the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research on Tuesday, November 18. The 2026 allocation is up 3.14% from last year and comes at a time when public universities are struggling with rising enrollment, outdated infrastructure, and limited research capacity.

Minister Adama Diawara said the funds will support major investments and reforms central to the ministry’s mandate. Priorities include upgrading university infrastructure, hiring more lecturer-researchers, and giving institutions the means to produce stronger scientific research aligned with national development needs.

The broad support for the budget underscores continued political backing for higher-education reforms. Enrollment has expanded faster than public universities can absorb, placing heavy pressure on facilities and teaching capacity. Quality concerns also persist, as many institutions lack modern laboratories, equipment, and sufficient practical training, which deepens the mismatch between graduates’ skills and labor-market expectations.

Digital transformation is another major obstacle. Despite national ambitions, universities still operate with limited connectivity, weak data-center capacity, and uneven digital resources, according to a 2024 World Bank study.

Félicien Houindo Lokossou