ECOWAS MP urges W/African nations to invest 30% budgets in education

The Chairman of the ECOWAS Parliament Committee on Health and Member of Parliament from Cabo Verde, Dr Orlando Pereiza Dia, has called on West African countries to allocate at least 30 per cent of their national budgets to education. He said such investment is key to driving local production and reducing dependence on developed nations. […]

The Chairman of the ECOWAS Parliament Committee on Health and Member of Parliament from Cabo Verde, Dr Orlando Pereiza Dia, has called on West African countries to allocate at least 30 per cent of their national budgets to education.

He said such investment is key to driving local production and reducing dependence on developed nations.
Speaking to journalists on Thursday at the ongoing meeting of the Parliament’s Joint Committee on Education, Science and Culture, and Communication in Dakar, Senegal, Dr Dia said the role of parliaments, both national and regional, is to champion innovation and technology through education.

Dr Dia stressed the need for ECOWAS countries to integrate innovation, information technology, and artificial intelligence into education systems as a foundation for sustainable development.
He said prioritising EdTech would help West Africa become more self-sufficient by transforming local raw materials into finished goods, creating jobs and wealth.

He said, “The role of the Parliament is the promotion of technology in education.

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“I had to speak today about the need and the role of Parliament, of our Parliaments, both the ECOWAS Parliament and our national Parliaments, in the sense of promoting the education sector, technologies, and innovation, which are very important sectors for the process of economic and social development of our respective countries.

“We must strengthen investment in education so that our countries allocate at least 30% of their respective budgets to the education sector, so as to properly introduce into school curricula, in primary schools, secondary schools, in universities, everything that has to do with information technologies and also with innovation.

“We have to invest heavily in education, in technology, in innovation, so that we can industrialise our sub-region, transform our products, produce more, create wealth, export, so we are less dependent on other countries.”
He warned that the current practice of exporting raw materials and importing finished goods is hurting development.