Classroom at the rural primary school Ecole Keur Madaro near Thies, Senegal.

Over the last 15 years, West African governments and the international community have been successful at expanding access to primary schooling and from presently on, a ground-breaking regional learning assessment has revealed that the quality of education has remained elusive. The majority of children surveyed were not acquiring the basic literacy and math skills that are crucial for building human capital in the region.

Africa: Making Things Happen at the Bank - 'Not a Talk Shop' - Akin Adesina

Dr. Akinwumi Adesina is focusing on five areas to achieve the African and world goals for a prosperous continent since becoming president of the African Development Bank - Africa's major public financial institution in September 2015. He was a keynote speaker at this month's Corporate Council on Africa's U.S.- Africa Business Summit in Washington D.C. and moderated a lively panel with five African government ministers. He as well received the Gene White Lifetime Succcess Award from the World Child Nutrition Foundation. This week, he was named the 2017 recipient of the World Food Prize, a prestigious honor that includes a $250,000 award. In an interview in Washington, DC, Adesina discussed the Development Bank's ambitious schedule and his vision for attracting the increase capital Africa needs. Posting questions for AllAfrica was Noluthando Crockett-Ntonga.

Outlook for 2016-17

The country (Burkina Faso) is situated in Western Africa, north of Ghana.
It has borders with Benin for 306km, Ivory Coast for 584km, Ghana for 549km, Mali for 1000km, Niger for 628km and Togo for 126km. Land in Burkina Faso is typically flat to dissected, undulating plains; hills in west and southeast. Burkinabe land covers an area of 274200 km².
The climate is tropical with warm and dry winters and hot and wet summers.
Burkinabe (singular and plural) speak French (official), native African languages belonging to Sudanic family spoken by 90% of the people.

Country Overview

Burkina Faso is a low-gain ($690 gross per capita gain in 2014), landlocked Sub-Saharan country, with limited natural resources. Its people, which is growing at an average annual rate of 3%, was estimated at almost 17.9 million inhabitants in 2014. The economy is heavily reliant on agricultural production, with close to 80% of the active people employed in the sector. Cotton is the country’s most significant cash crop, while gold exports have gained importance in recent years.

Ouagadougou

Ouagadougou  is the capital of Burkina Faso and the administrative, communications, cultural and economic centre of the nation. It is also the country's largest city, with a population of 1,475,223 (as of 2006). The city's name is often shortened to Ouaga. The inhabitants are called ouagalais. The spelling of the name Ouagadougou is derived from the French orthography common in former French African colonies. If English orthography were used (as in Ghana or Nigeria), the spelling would be Wagadugu.