country profile

Senegal

Sub-Saharan AfricaLower middle income18.93M population

Last updated July 15, 2026

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Severely underprepared

Composite GEFRI Score

Severe readiness constraints across dimensions

Senegal shows severely limited readiness to meet the challenges and opportunities of education in a rapidly changing world (29th percentile worldwide). Key structural conditions limit capacity to plan, implement, and sustain forward-looking reforms.

34.71Composite score
Global percentile
29th
Global rank
#126
Regional rank
#9
Viewing data for
Emerging readiness
Infrastructure
47.19
28th percentileGlobal avg. 55.13
Critically unprepared
Human Capital
27.08
11th percentileGlobal avg. 47.36
Severely underprepared
Innovation
38.32
36th percentileGlobal avg. 46.19
Emerging readiness
Governance
50.96
62nd percentileGlobal avg. 47.46
Critically unprepared
Access & Parity
10.00
33rd percentileGlobal avg. 48.49

Country profile

Senegal faces substantial readiness constraints across core dimensions. Its weakest results are in GEFRI Composite (35, 29th percentile) and Human Capital (27, 11th percentile). These gaps continue to weigh on overall readiness.

Uneven scores across dimensions show where readiness conditions are less aligned. Literacy or tertiary enrollment gaps thin the talent pipeline and limit the country’s capacity to develop future-ready skills.

Sparse R&D investment and a small research workforce slow experimentation and delay new ideas from reaching learners. Regulatory quality falls short of global standards, signalling structural hurdles in policy execution. Girls outperform boys in secondary pathways, adding pressure to address male dropout risks.

Infrastructure presents a near-term leapfrog opportunity: performance is just below the global average, backed by enough observed data to support forward planning. Regionally, Senegal leads most clearly in Governance, sitting well above the peer average.

Most indicators are observed rather than imputed, so estimation uncertainty is limited.

Key insights

Falls below many peers at the 29th percentile.

Places 126th worldwide.

Holds a regional position of 9th within Sub-Saharan Africa.

Scores range from Governance (51.0) to Access & Parity (10.0), reflecting variation across dimensions.

Leads regional peers most clearly in Governance.

Regional peers: Sub-Saharan Africa

Composite GEFRI Score

Global rankRegional rankCountryScore
651South Africa57.44
742Mauritius55.85
SeychellesMicrostate55.06
803Botswana53.75
994Ghana48.08
1085Namibia44.23
1146Cabo Verde39.44
1207Eswatini36.39
1258Equatorial Guinea35.21
1269Senegal34.71
12710Gabon34.67
12811Rwanda34.54
13312Kenya32.83
13513Gambia, The32.46
13614Cote d'Ivoire32.04
13715Lesotho31.46
14016Tanzania29.45
14217Benin29.31
Sao Tome and PrincipeFCSMicrostate29.18
14318Togo28.93
14419Zimbabwe28.61
14520CameroonFCS28.42
14621Mauritania27.91
14822Zambia27.69
15023Angola27.20
15324Guinea25.53
15425MozambiqueFCS25.03
15526Madagascar24.90
15627Uganda24.77
15728Congo, Rep.FCS24.76
15829NigeriaFCS24.43
16030EthiopiaFCS24.27
16131Burkina FasoFCS24.20
16232ComorosFCS24.06
16333Sierra Leone23.91
16434MalawiFCS23.31
16535Liberia22.51
16636Guinea-BissauFCS22.30
16737MaliFCS21.77
16838Burundi20.39
16939SudanFCS19.96
17040NigerFCS19.49
17141EritreaFCS19.24
17242Congo, Dem. Rep.FCS19.13
17343ChadFCS17.06
17544SomaliaFCS16.33
17645South SudanFCS16.19
17746Central African RepublicFCS16.10