Benin and Guinea : new opportunities for university cooperation and student mobility

From October 15 to October 20 2023, Campus France brought a delegation of French higher education institutions to Benin and Guinea to promote the study in France program « La Ruée vers l’Ouest » (« Going West »).

Campus France, the French Embassy in Benin and the French Embassy in Guinea and Sierra Leone invited French higher education institutions to come promote their programs and courses and develop institutional partnerships. On the agenda for both visits: student fairs and meetings with local institutions of higher education.

Benin : great success for the Studies in France Fair 1st edition

The goal of this first visit to Benin by a delegation composed of 17 French higher education institutions was to meet prospective Beninese students and institutional partners.

A key moment of the visit was the 1st edition of the Studies in France Fair in Cotonou, in the presence of  Eléanore Yayi Ladekan, the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research.

On October 17, the fair counted more than 2000 visitors (students, high school students and parents) from whole over the country, ready to discover the programs and courses the institutions had to offer.

On the previous day, conferences and round tables had allowed representatives from he French and Beninese institutions to discuss topics linked to higher education, university cooperation and student mobility.

Guinea : new opportunities for university cooperation and student mobility

Next, 12 higher education institutions went to Conakry, Guinea, to attend meetings with institutional partners on October 19 and participate to a student fair on October 20. 1500 students, high school students and parents came to participate to the Studies in France Fair, inaugurated in the presence of Guillaume Hawing, Minister of Secondary Education and Literacy. They had direct access to information about study opportunities in France thanks to the presence of the French institutions and the services offered by Campus France.

Benin and Guinea, two new stages on the promotion campaign for French higher education organized by campus France in West Africa, seem promising partners to develop university exchanges and student mobility with in the future.