International Journal of

ADVANCED AND APPLIED SCIENCES

EISSN: 2313-3724, Print ISSN: 2313-626X

Frequency: 12

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 Volume 12, Issue 10 (October 2025), Pages: 88-99

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 Original Research Paper

The impact of institutional quality, development assistance, ICT, and foreign direct investment on higher education

 Author(s): 

 Chinyere Ori Elom 1, Eric Worlanyo Deffor 2, Daniel Adu Ankrah 3, Chidebe Chijioke Uwaleke 4, Robert Ugochukwu Onyeneke 5, *

 Affiliation(s):

  1Department of Educational Foundations, Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike, Achoro-Ndiagu, Nigeria
  2GIMPA Training and Consulting Directorate, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, Accra, Ghana
  3Department of Agricultural Extension, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
  4Department of Science Education, Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike, Achoro-Ndiagu, Nigeria
  5Department of Agricultural Economics, Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike, Achoro-Ndiagu, Nigeria

 Full text

    Full Text - PDF

 * Corresponding Author. 

   Corresponding author's ORCID profile:  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9242-901X

 Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  https://doi.org/10.21833/ijaas.2025.10.011

 Abstract

Achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4, which focuses on providing inclusive and equitable quality education, remains a key priority for African governments. However, several factors—such as institutional quality, official development assistance (ODA), information and communication technology (ICT), education spending, and foreign direct investment (FDI)—can either support or hinder progress, particularly in improving higher education outcomes. Existing studies offer limited empirical evidence and rarely examine the combined effects of these factors on higher education. This study investigates how institutional quality, ODA, ICT, education expenditure, and FDI influence higher education enrolment in West Africa, a region with one of the lowest tertiary education enrolment rates globally. Using panel data from 12 West African countries between 2009 and 2020, the study applies fixed effects, random effects, and generalized method of moments (GMM) regression techniques. The findings reveal that ODA to the education sector, GDP per capita, and ICT development positively affect higher education enrolment, while FDI has a negative impact. Overall, the results highlight the importance of improving institutional quality, enhancing ICT infrastructure, and increasing targeted ODA to boost enrolment in higher education. Effective education policies, supported by economic growth and investment in ICT, are essential to achieving SDG 4 in West Africa and similar regions.

 © 2025 The Authors. Published by IASE.

 This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

 Keywords

 Higher education, Institutional quality, Development assistance, ICT infrastructure, West Africa

 Article history

 Received 7 February 2025, Received in revised form 26 May 2025, Accepted 24 September 2025

 Acknowledgment

No Acknowledgment. 

 Compliance with ethical standards

 Conflict of interest: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

 Citation:

 Elom CO, Deffor EW, Ankrah DA, Uwaleke CC, and Onyeneke RU (2025). The impact of institutional quality, development assistance, ICT, and foreign direct investment on higher education. International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 12(10): 88-99

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 Figures

  Fig. 1 

 Tables

  Table 1  Table 2  Table 3  Table 4  Table 5  Table 6  Table 7  Table 8  Table 9  Table 10  Table 11 

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