The purpose of the ELAN-Africa Initiative is to contribute to improving the quality and efficiency of primary education in French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa. In fact, the access of all children to quality primary education is hampered there, especially for the majority rural populations, by the difficulty of acquiring the French language, a medium of instruction from the first year of education.

Studies carried out in 6 countries, jointly piloted by MAEE, AFD, OIF and AUF within the framework of the LASCOLAF program, have shown the effectiveness of bilingual education articulating the various African languages ​​and the French language. .

The objective of the ELAN-Africa Initiative is to promote in eight sub-Saharan African countries ( Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Mali, Niger, DR Congo, Senegal ) the joint use of African languages ​​and the language French in primary education, in particular by supporting the eight ministries of education to carry out the reforms necessary for the growing use of African languages ​​with French in primary education.

To help mobilize around the interest of educating children in several languages, such deployment assumes a leverage effect that will allow rigorous planning, production of quality teaching materials, solid training of teachers and their supervision, as well as '' effective monitoring and evaluation. All this is possible thanks to a long-term political will, information for families and a process of consultation with stakeholders.