In a high school in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, some future baccalaureate students in the scientific stream are focused on equations written on the board. The classroom, much less filled than those in the literary streams, symbolizes the lack of attractiveness of sciences in West Africa. According to the Ivorian Ministry of Education, in 2022, only 0.6% of baccalaureate candidates were enrolled in the C stream, specialized in mathematics/physics, and 38% in the D stream, more oriented towards natural sciences—compared to 45% for this latter in 2015. Several other countries in the region, such as Mali, Burkina Faso, and Guinea, are experiencing the same decline in scientific streams, despite the repeated claims by their leaders to want to reverse this trend. In the first-year C class at the modern high school of Cocody in Abidjan, a recognized public institution, the students, sitting in groups of three on benches around hard tables, react timidly to questions from their mathematics teacher. Among the boys in khaki uniforms and the girls in white shirts and wide blue skirts, only a few raise their hands. "Not always the same ones," says the teacher Fabrice Gueï. That day, there were 37 students in front of the teacher, a significant number but much lower than in literary classes, which can reach up to 80 people. And having a class of 30 students or more in the C stream is a rarity, acknowledges Melagne Agnimel, the general inspector in charge of secondary education in Ivory Coast. "In most schools, you will find classes with only seven, eight, or 10 students," he continues. According to the authorities, this situation is explained in particular by a reduction in investments in scientific education, by a shortage of teachers, as well as a lack of laboratories and equipment. To this is added a disaffection of students towards these streams, considered too difficult and demanding by many. "Students are afraid of choosing scientific streams because they say it gives them extra work. They prefer then to go into literary streams," explains Mr. Agnimel. Professor Gueï, on the other hand, points out a "misrepresentation" of these disciplines by some of his colleagues who "scare children." The actors also mention a lack of opportunities linked, they say, to university curricula that are not adapted to the evolution of science, engineering schools being few and universities poorly equipped. "For those who have the chance to enter certain schools or to have a scholarship to continue abroad, opportunities are there. But for those who stay here, (the opportunity) is often teaching," with salaries considered insufficient, notes the physics-chemistry professor Youan Bi. As a result, many trained scientists in the country prefer to go abroad to work: "We are losing our scientists," laments the inspector Agnimel. The same observation is made in Senegal, where the number of candidates registered in scientific streams for the baccalaureate has dropped from nearly 30% at the beginning of the 2000s to 15.5% in 2026, or in Niger where some high schools have had to close their scientific classes due to lack of students. Africa produces only 1% of global scientific research, estimated the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2025, many experts considering it the continent that lags the most in this area. Faced with this situation, several countries in the region are trying as best they can to change the situation, carrying out awareness campaigns aimed at students or building colleges and high schools exclusively dedicated to scientific streams. In Ivory Coast, the government has launched the creation of scientific poles across the entire national territory, as well as new preparatory classes for grandes écoles (CPGE) in order to attract the best students in mathematics and physics, within the framework of a national strategy aimed at revitalizing scientific streams. Because of mathematics, Abdoulaye Harouna, 19 years old, in the final year of the C stream, has long been plagued by doubts about his choice. "It's a really difficult stream that requires a lot of sacrifices," he smiles. But seeing his older brother, trained in the same stream, become a solar energy engineer and earn a good living has strengthened his determination to continue his path. "If you work well in this stream, your future is guaranteed," he wants to believe.