The launch of HAKILI Mousso in Burkina Faso has triggered widespread debate about the future of girls’ scientific excellence in the country. The initiative, which seeks to identify and reward female scientific talent, has drawn inevitable comparisons with Benin’s long-established model of promoting excellence in science education. The reactions have been swift, and the question now is what comes next for a region eager to cultivate the scientists, engineers and technicians its economies will require in the decades ahead.
Benin’s longstanding commitment to scientific excellence
For several years, Benin has placed scholarly and scientific excellence at the heart of its education policy. In 2026, the country continued this momentum with the General Competition in Mathematics and Physical Sciences, held in Djougou, combined with an excellence camp for students in scientific streams.
The third edition, whose award ceremony took place on 29 August 2026, was designed to detect young scientific talent, support them and inspire more vocations in science and technology.
This choice is far from incidental. It reflects a vision of education in which academic competition serves not merely to establish a ranking, but also to identify the future engineers, researchers, technicians and executives that African economies will need.
Beyond competition: a comprehensive approach
One of the strengths of Benin’s experience is precisely that it does not reduce the issue to a one-off competition.
The country acts simultaneously on access to education, identification of the best profiles, encouragement of scientific fields and support for young talent.
The decision announced in June 2026 to extend free tuition to all girls in public general and technical secondary education from the 2026-2027 academic year forms part of this logic. The Beninese government presents this measure as a means of reducing economic barriers and promoting equal opportunity.
The reasoning is relatively simple: before asking young girls to become scientists, they must first be able to access education on a sustainable basis and pursue their schooling under good conditions.
This is where the Beninese experience takes on a broader dimension. Promoting girls in science is not merely a matter of awards or ceremonies. It presupposes an environment that allows talent to emerge, progress and ultimately find its place in higher education and the professional world.
Burkina Faso’s HAKILI Mousso: a response and a debate
It is against this regional backdrop that Burkina Faso’s HAKILI Mousso initiative deserves attention.
Launched in September 2026 at the initiative of the Presidency of Faso, this first edition is devoted to detecting female scientific talent. Eighty-four young girls holding the 2026 scientific baccalaureate participated in the national final after a selection phase. The tests covered mathematics, physics and chemistry.
On 19 September, the best candidates were rewarded in Ouagadougou. The top five in each discipline received various prizes, including sums of money, motorcycles, computers and scholarships. The supervising teachers of the best candidates were also recognised.
In substance, the message conveyed by HAKILI Mousso echoes a concern already visible in Benin: giving greater prominence to female scientific excellence and encouraging young girls to invest in scientific disciplines.
A shared struggle against stereotypes
The parallel is particularly interesting on the question of stereotypes.
In Burkina Faso, the promoters of HAKILI Mousso explain that they want to deconstruct the idea that mathematics, physics or chemistry are fields reserved for boys. The Burkinabè government thus presents the competition as an instrument designed to inspire female scientific vocations.
In Benin, the strategy relies more on creating an environment conducive to the emergence of such talent: general competitions, excellence camps, support for science students and measures facilitating girls’ schooling.
The approaches are therefore not identical. But the general direction is converging: identify talent, encourage girls to engage in science and make academic excellence a lever for development.
It is precisely for this reason that the Beninese experience deserves to be placed at the forefront when analysing Burkina Faso’s current evolution.
Burkina Faso: a model pupil of the Beninese experience?
Describing Burkina Faso as a “model pupil” of Benin is obviously a comparative reading. But the facts reveal a growing proximity in initiatives devoted to scientific excellence.
Benin had already established the general competition in mathematics and physical sciences in its educational calendar. In 2026, it organised the third edition, combined with an excellence camp.
A few weeks later, Burkina Faso in turn organised a national competition specifically designed to reveal female scientific talent.
It would be excessive to claim that HAKILI Mousso is a copy of the Beninese system. The two programmes have their own characteristics and respond to different national contexts.
But in a region where states are seeking to strengthen their scientific and technological skills, Benin clearly appears as a regional experience that Burkina Faso can observe and, in some respects, seems to be following.
From beauty to competence: a shift in perspective
The question of beauty pageants constitutes another element of the debate.
Since June 2026, Burkina Faso has suspended beauty pageants on its territory pending a new regulatory framework. This decision opened a reflection on the models of achievement offered to young people.
A few months later, HAKILI Mousso places at the centre of attention not physical appearance, but mathematics, physics, chemistry, reasoning ability and the scientific potential of young girls.
It is not necessarily a matter of opposing beauty and intelligence. Beauty pageants can have cultural, social or entrepreneurial dimensions. The real question is rather which models of success public policies choose to highlight.
And on this front, Benin has already embarked on a path that deserves to be observed.
Its system combines access to education, detection of the best science students and the organisation of excellence frameworks. Burkina Faso now seems to be strengthening this dimension in turn with HAKILI Mousso.
The real challenge: preparing tomorrow’s talent
Behind the competitions and ceremonies, the real issue is far more important.
African economies need scientists, engineers, technicians, researchers and specialists capable of meeting challenges related to energy, digital technology, industry, agriculture, health and new technologies.
In this competition for skills, girls represent a considerable reserve of talent that states can no longer afford to neglect.
Benin has understood this by multiplying mechanisms designed to promote girls’ access to education and to promote scientific excellence. Burkina Faso has now added an initiative specifically devoted to detecting female scientific talent.
The movement is therefore worth following.
Benin shows the way, Burkina Faso draws inspiration
Beyond the controversy over beauty pageants, the current evolution above all reveals a transformation of educational priorities.
Benin has chosen to make scientific excellence a visible element of its education policy. Burkina Faso now seems to be taking a comparable trajectory.
The General Competition in Mathematics and Physical Sciences in Djougou, combined with the excellence camp, already illustrates Benin’s desire to detect and support the best scientific profiles.
HAKILI Mousso has now added a feminine and national dimension to this logic of talent detection in Burkina Faso. With 84 candidates from the scientific baccalaureate and awards intended to encourage their progress, the initiative marks a clear desire to give new visibility to young female scientists.
Thus, rather than presenting Burkina Faso as a country that has simply changed competitions, it is more relevant to look at the regional dynamic of which Benin is today one of the most visible examples.
Burkina Faso seems to have grasped the message: the future is not played out solely in speeches, but also in the ability to identify, train and support talent.