Ouagadougou:The heads of higher education and research institutions of the Confederation of Sahel States (CSA) are convening their second conference in Ouagadougou from November 13 to 14, 2026. The event focuses on harmonizing and endogenizing higher education, research, and innovation systems to develop competent human resources and promote harmonious development within the confederation.
According to Burkina Information Agency, Burkina Faso's Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, Professor Adjima Thiombiano, representing the Prime Minister, emphasized that the fight for sovereignty by the AES is taking place "as much on the front of defense and security as in our lecture halls, our laboratories and our research and innovation centers."
Professor Thiombiano outlined the confederation's vision, which is built on four pillars. The first involves institutional harmonization and coherence, facilitating borderless mobility for teachers, researchers, and students and ensuring diploma recognition. The second pillar aims at economic sovereignty by training engineers and technicians to process the Sahel's raw materials. The third focus is the endogenization of knowledge, promoting traditional medicine and reorienting research towards defense, security, food sovereignty, health, and energy. The final pillar seeks to pool resources and secure sustainable funding through centers of excellence, shared laboratories, and confederal funding mechanisms to retain talent and curb the brain drain.
The government is committed to supporting all reforms necessary to create a confederal system of higher education, research, and innovation, According to minister.
Professor Antoine Br, president of Joseph Ki-Zerbo University and representative of the experts, mentioned that the expert committee prepared six structuring documents for the participants. These documents include an assessment of the recommendations from the first conference held in Bamako in 2025, an inventory of study regimes, and a harmonization guide for quality assurance and academic governance. Other documents cover priority areas for academic and scientific cooperation, a cooperation agreement in mining and petroleum, and an agreement on higher education, research, and innovation within the Swiss Confederation, which includes institutionalizing the Conference of Heads of Higher Education and Research of the Swiss Confederation (AES).
Professor Br also highlighted that the shared foundation, notably the Bachelor-Master-Doctorate (LMD) system, supports diploma interoperability and student mobility.
The conference theme is "Harmonization and endogenization of higher education, research and innovation systems for skilled human resources and harmonious development of ESA countries," with experts from Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and Togo participating.