









































Pa
ge

 
1



Pa
ge

 
15

American Journal of  Applied 
Statistics and Economics (AJASE)

Comparing the Budgetary Allocations to the Education Sectors of  Nigeria and Some 
African Countries (1999-2021) in View of  UNESCO’s Benchmarks

Emmanuel Uchenna Ohaegbulem1*

Volume 3 Issue 1, Year 2024
ISSN: 2992-927X (Online)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.54536/ajase.v3i1.2280
https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajase

Article Information ABSTRACT

Received: November 22, 2023

Accepted: December 27, 2023

Published: December 31, 2023

The percentage budgetary allocations to the education sectors of  Nigeria alongside those 
of  some other selected African countries (which included Ghana, South Africa, Senegal, 
Kenya and Morocco) from 1999 to 2021 in view of  the UNESCO recommended minimum 
benchmarks were assessed in this paper. Secondary data from the 2018 Edition of  the Statistical 
Bulletin of  the Central Bank of  Nigeria and the Official Website of  the Budget Office of  the 
Federal Government of  Nigeria (budgetoffice.gov.ng) were analyzed. Descriptive statistics, 
the Analysis of  Variance (ANOVA) test, the Student’s t-test for equality of  two population 
means and Ranking were all employed in the data analyses. Results showed that for the period 
under study, (1999-2021), the annual percentage budgetary allocations to the education 
sector by the government of  Nigeria were significantly lower than those of  Ghana, South 
Africa, Senegal, Kenya and Morocco; those of  Ghana were significantly higher than each of  
those of  South Africa and Morocco, but were not significantly different from those of  the 
governments of  Senegal and Kenya; those of  South Africa are not significantly different from 
those of  Morocco, but were significantly lower than each of  those of  Senegal and Kenya; 
those of  Senegal were not significantly different from those of  Kenya, but were significantly 
higher than those of  Morocco; while those of  Kenya were significantly higher than those 
of  Morocco. Furthermore, for the period, (1999-2021), the average percentage budgetary 
allocation to the education sector by the FGN was significantly lower than each of  the 
UNESCO’s 15%, 20% and 26% recommended benchmarks; that of  Ghana was significantly 
higher than each of  the UNESCO’s 15% and 20% recommended benchmarks, but not that 
of  26%; that of  South Africa and Senegal were significantly higher than the UNESCO’s 
15% benchmark, not significantly different from the 20% benchmark, but were significantly 
lower than the 26% benchmark; that of  Kenya was significantly higher than each of  the 
UNESCO’s 15% and 20% recommended benchmarks, but is significantly lower than the 
26% benchmark; while that of  Morocco was significantly higher than the UNESCO’s 15%, 
but significantly lower than each of  the 20% and 26% recommended benchmarks. Finally, 
based on the levels of  adherence to the UNESCO’s recommended minimum benchmarks, 
Ghana was ranked first, while Kenya, Senegal, South Africa, Morocco and Nigeria were 
ranked second, third, fourth, fifth and a distant sixth, respectively. Thus, for the period, 
(1999-2021), Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, South Africa and Morocco outperformed Nigeria in 
terms of  the percentage budgetary allocations to their respective education sectors as well as 
the levels of  adherence to UNESCO’s recommended minimum benchmarks.

Keywords

Percentage Budgetary Allocations, 
UNESCO Benchmarks, 
Education Sector, Education 
Financing, African Countries

1 Department of  Statistics, Imo State University, Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria
* Corresponding author’s e-mail: emmanx2002@yahoo.com

INTRODUCTION
Education is recognized as a major factor of  national 
development in all countries of  the world, as it is one 
of  the primary sources that help in achieving human 
capital development. According to Omotor (2017) and 
Odigwe and Owan (2019), for example, the immense 
contributions of  education to any nation’s status cannot be 
overemphasized, especially in the areas of  technological 
development, sociopolitical stability and wealth-creation. 
So, as stated by Odigwe and Owan (2019), investment in 
education is as important as the plan for national building.
Among many aspects of  globalization, the most noticeable 
one is education funding (Tilak and Panchamukhi, 2023). 
Funding of  education is primarily the government’s 
responsibility. The allocation of  sufficient financial 
resources to education is essential for achieving sustainable 
economic growth and development. Ifionu and Nteegah 
(2013) assert that the budget is a key government tool for 
implementing social, political and economic policies and 

priorities. Budgetary allocations to the education sector 
are channeled through appropriate organs of  government 
and such funds are in turn disbursed to all the levels of  
education.
Many international organizations that are involved 
in human capital development recommend that 
governments should allocate at least 4-6% of  their Gross 
Domestic Products (GDPs) and/or at least 15-20% of  
their total public expenditures to education (see, for 
example, Tilak and Panchamukhi, 2023). The United 
Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization 
(UNESCO), perceiving the poor funding to the education 
sectors of  many developing countries by her respective 
governments, was mandated to recommend a minimum 
benchmark of  26% of  the total annual budgets of  every 
developing country be allocated to the education sectors 
(see, for example, Ekaette et al, 2019). All developing 
countries are expected to adhere to this benchmark 
directive, as their standards of  education would be 



Pa
ge

 
16

https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajase

Am. J. Appl. Stat. Econ. 3(1) 15-23, 2024

improved (see, for example, Callaway and Musone, 1968).
Surprisingly and unfortunately, most of  the developing 
countries, including some in Africa, are still experiencing 
inadequate funding to their education sectors. Notably, 
according to Gandhi (2020), almost half  of  all African 
countries are meeting the recommended education 
financing targets set by the United Nations. Gandhi 
(2020) also added that, while many African countries met 
at least one of  the two education financing targets, only 
46% met both targets for the period, (2012-2017). There 
is therefore the need to evaluate the annual percentage 
budgetary allocations to the education sectors of  some 
selected African countries, and to compare them in view 
of  the UNESCO’s recommended benchmarks. 

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The major data used for this study, as presented in Table 
1, were obtained from two separate sources, namely, the 
2018 Edition of  the Statistical Bulletin of  the Central Bank 
of  Nigeria and the Official Website of  the Budget Office 
of  the Federal Government of  Nigeria (budgetoffice.gov.
ng). Table 1 shows the percentage budgetary allocations to 
the Education Sectors of  some selected African countries 
(namely, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Senegal, Kenya 
and Morocco) by their respective Federal Governments, 
from 1999 to 2021 (this range of  time was considered so 

as to have a clear comparison with respect to the current 
democratic dispensation being enjoyed in Nigeria).
A few descriptive analyses shall be employed in this study, 
especially the use of  graphical representations to show 
the trends in the percentage budgetary allocations to the 
Education Sector in the selected countries, as well as the 
years under study.
The Analysis of  Variance (ANOVA) test shall also be used 
to determine whether or not significant differences exist 
among the percentage budgetary allocations to the education 
sectors of  Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Senegal, Kenya and 
Morocco by their Federal Governments and the UNESCO 
recommended benchmarks of  15-20% for international, 
and 26% for developing countries Ghana, South Africa, 
Senegal, Kenya and Morocco, from 1999 to 2021.
The Student’s t-test for equality of  two population 
means shall also be employed in ascertaining significant 
differences or otherwise between the average percentage 
budgetary allocations to the education sectors by the 
respective governments of  each of  Nigeria, Ghana, South 
Africa, Senegal, Kenya and Morocco and the perceived 
average of  the three UNESCO’s Recommended 
Benchmarks of  15%, 20% and 26%.
Lastly, ranking shall be employed in placing the selected 
African countries in terms of  their levels of  adherence to 
the UNESCO recommended benchmarks.

Table 1: The percentage budgetary allocations to the education sectors by the governments of  some African 
countries (1999-2021)
Year Country/Percentage Budgetary Allocation

Nigeria Ghana South Africa Senegal Kenya Morocco
1999 11.12 11.73 15.24 16.82 24.55 5.14
2000 8.36 14.20 18.09 17.62 23.40 8.28
2001 7.00 19.54 20.47 15.73 22.41 10.11
2002 5.90 22.07 20.10 16.72 25.63 13.91
2003 1.83 20.30 19.59 16.12 24.98 16.67
2004 10.50 26.02 19.93 16.96 26.67 15.16
2005 9.30 25.85 19.92 21.77 27.47 12.22
2006 11.00 20.30 18.00 17.95 25.08 16.31
2007 8.09 26.00 18.03 18.73 21.03 17.27
2008 13.00 25.85 17.91 19.23 18.64 18.61
2009 6.54 23.87 18.31 23.30 15.72 19.65
2010 6.40 20.70 18.04 24.05 20.56 18.29
2011 1.69 30.63 18.96 21.09 19.25 18.10
2012 10.00 37.53 20.64 20.80 19.92 17.58
2013 8.70 31.00 25.76 25.74 19.14 16.93
2014 10.60 20.99 19.14 24.76 17.08 16.31
2015 9.50 23.81 18.70 23.76 16.66 17.14
2016 6.10 22.09 18.05 21.34 17.34 20.18
2017 7.38 20.10 18.72 25.60 17.88 19.89
2018 7.03 18.61 18.87 27.80 20.02 20.46
2019 7.20 26.72 20.00 22.61 21.70 25.77
2020 6.70 33.54 22.21 26.08 26.70 30.02
2021 5.60 39.02 23.50 25.81 27.20 31.06



Pa
ge

 
17

https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajase

Am. J. Appl. Stat. Econ. 3(1) 15-23, 2024

RESULTS AND DISCUSIONS
Graphical displays by way of  plots have been carried 
out to express some of  the characteristic features 
inherent in the data used in this study. The Two-Way 
ANOVA test have been used to determine whether or 
not significant differences existed among the annual 
percentage budgetary allocations to the education sectors 
of  Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Senegal, Kenya and 
Morocco by their respective governments from 1999 
to 2021, as well as the three UNESCO’s recommended 
minimum benchmarks of  15%, 20% and 26%. 
Furthermore, where the null hypothesis was rejected 
(thus, significant difference was established), a post hoc 
pairwise comparison test (via the Student’s t-test) was 
used to ascertain the actual cause of  the rejection of  the 

null hypothesis. This was subsequently followed by the 
ranking of  each the country’s performances with respect 
to the average percentage budgetary allocations to their 
respective education sectors.
These data analyses are presented below:

Assessing the Levels of  Adherence by the 
Governments of  Some Selected African Countries 
(1999-2021) to the UNESCO’s Benchmarks
The yearly plots of  the percentage budgetary allocations 
to the education sectors by the respective governments of  
some selected African countries (which include Nigeria, 
Ghana, South Africa, Senegal, Kenya and Morocco) from 
1999 to 2021; as well as the UNESCO’s recommended 
minimum benchmarks, are as presented in Figures 1 to 6.

Figure 1: Percentage budgetary allocations to the education sector of  Nigeria (1999-2021)

Figure 2: Percentage budgetary allocations to the education sector of  Ghana (1999-2021)



Pa
ge

 
18

https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajase

Am. J. Appl. Stat. Econ. 3(1) 15-23, 2024

It is evident from Figure 1 that all the annual percentage 
allocations to the education sector by the FGN from 1999 
to 2021 fall below the three UNESCO’s benchmarks.
Figure 2 shows that the percentage budgetary allocations 
to the education sector by the government of  Ghana for 
1999 and 2000 did not even reach the 15% benchmark, 

while the allocations for 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2011, 
2012, 2013, 2019, 2020 and 2021 reached the 26% 
benchmark and even above. Also, the allocations for the 
other years within the period under study fall between the 
15% and 26% benchmarks.
The plots in Figure 3 show that the percentage allocations 

Figure 3: Percentage budgetary allocations to the education sector of  South Africa (1999-2021)

Figure 4: Percentage budgetary allocations to the education sector of  Senegal (1999-2021)

to the education sector by the government of  South 
Africa for the period under study were between the 15% 
and 26% UNESCO’s benchmarks.
Figure 4 shows that almost all the percentage allocations 
to the education sector by the government of  Senegal for 
the period under study appear to fall between the 15% 
and 26% benchmarks, except that of  2018 which falls 
above the 26% benchmark.

From Figure 5, it is evident that the annual percentage 
budgetary allocations to the education sector by the 
government of  Kenya for 2004, 2005, 2020 and 2021 
fall above the UNESCO’s benchmark of  26%, while the 
percentage budgetary allocations for the rest of  the years 
in the period under study fall between 15% and 26% 
benchmarks.
The plots in Figure 6 show that the percentage allocations 



Pa
ge

 
19

https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajase

Am. J. Appl. Stat. Econ. 3(1) 15-23, 2024

to the education sector by the government of  Morocco 
for 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2005 fall below the 
UNESCO’s 15% benchmark; those of  2020 and 2021 
fall above the UNESCO’s 26% benchmark; while the 
percentage budgetary allocations for the rest of  the years 
in the period under study fall between 15% and 26% 

benchmarks.
The summary statistics for the annual percentage 
budgetary allocations to the education sectors of  Nigeria, 
Ghana, South Africa, Senegal, Kenya and Morocco by 
their respective governments, from 1999 to 2021, are as 
presented in Table 2.

Figure 5: Percentage budgetary allocations to the education sector of  Kenya (1999-2021)

Figure 6: Percentage budgetary allocations to the education sector of  Morocco (1999-2021)

Table 2: Summary statistics for the annual percentage budgetary allocations to the education sectors of  the selected 
African countries (1999-2021)
Statistic Nigeria Ghana South Africa Senegal Kenya Morocco
Mean 7.81 24.37 19.49 21.32 21.70 17.61
Standard Error 0.572 1.390 0.446 0.781 0.780 1.241
Median 7.38 23.81 18.96 21.34 21.03 17.27
Standard Deviation 2.742 6.665 2.138 3.747 3.743 5.954



Pa
ge

 
20

https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajase

Am. J. Appl. Stat. Econ. 3(1) 15-23, 2024

With all the observations on Figures 1 to 6, as well as the 
summary statistics in Table 2, it becomes necessary to test 
for significant differences among the annual percentage 
budgetary allocations to the education sectors by the 
respective governments of  the selected African countries 
for the period under study. This is done via the ANOVA 
test; and the result outputs are as presented in Table 3.
The ANOVA test results presented in Table 3 show 
that there was significant difference in the percentage 
budgetary allocations to the education sectors among 
the years under study by the governments of  the selected 
African countries. Also, the results show that, for the 

period under study (1999-2021), there was significant 
difference among the percentage budgetary allocations 
by each of  the governments of  Nigeria, Ghana, South 
Africa, Senegal, Kenya and Morocco to their respective 
education sectors, as well as each of  the UNESCO’s 15%, 
20% and 26% recommended benchmarks.
As a follow up, a post hoc pairwise comparison test was 
further conducted; and the summary of  the respective 
p-Values of  the pairwise comparison between any two 
of  the selected countries in terms of  differences as well 
as each of  the UNESCO’s benchmarks are as presented 
in Table 4.

Sample Variance 7.521 44.424 4.570 14.038 14.007 35.450
Kurtosis 0.590 0.351 2.902 -1.348 -1.338 1.155
Skewness -0.488 0.515 1.204 0.0165 0.115 0.365
Range 11.31 27.29 10.52 12.07 11.75 25.92
Minimum 1.69 11.73 15.24 15.73 15.72 5.14
Maximum 13.00 39.02 25.76 27.80 27.47 31.06
Sum 179.54 560.47 448.18 490.39 499.03 405.06
Count 23 23 23 23 23 23

Table 3: ANOVA Table (Two-factor without replication)
Source of  Variation SS df MS F P-value F-critical
Years 577.980 22 26.272 2.242 0.0021* 1.603
% Allocations of  Some Countries & 
UNESCO’s Benchmarks

5390.418 8 673.802 57.505 3 . 6 9 E -
45*

1.991

Error 2062.249 176 11.7173
Total 8030.647 206

✻ Significance

Table 4: Summary of  the test for significant difference among the percentage budgetary allocations to the education 
sectors by the governments of  some selected African countries (1999-2021)
Country Ghana South Africa Senegal Kenya Morocco
Nigeria 3.1E-14* 4.6E-20* 9.0E-18* 3.3E-18* 6.4E-09*
Ghana 1.7E-03* 0.063 0.101 7.4E-04*
South Africa 0.047* 0.018* 0.162
Senegal 0.735 0.015*
Kenya 7.8E-03*
Morocco

✻ Significance

The p-Values in the result outputs in Table 4 show that 
the percentage budgetary allocations to the education 
sector by the government of  Nigeria for the period under 
study, (1999-2021), are significantly different from (lower 
than) those of  Ghana, South Africa, Senegal, Kenya 
and Morocco. For the same period under study, the 
percentage budgetary allocations to the education sector 
by the government of  Ghana are significantly different 
from (higher than) each of  those of  the governments of  
Nigeria, South Africa and Morocco, but not significantly 
different from those of  the governments of  Senegal and 

Kenya. Also, the percentage budgetary allocations to the 
education sector by the government of  South Africa are 
not significantly different from those of  Morocco, but 
they are significantly higher than those of  the government 
of  Nigeria and significantly lower than each of  those 
of  the governments of  Ghana, Senegal and Kenya. 
Furthermore, the percentage budgetary allocations to the 
education sector by the government of  Senegal are not 
significantly different from those of  the governments of  
Ghana and Kenya, but they are significantly higher than 
those of  the governments of  Nigeria, South Africa and 



Pa
ge

 
21

https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajase

Am. J. Appl. Stat. Econ. 3(1) 15-23, 2024

Morocco. Also, the percentage budgetary allocations to 
the education sector by the government of  Kenya are not 
significantly different from those of  the governments of  
Ghana and Senegal, but they are significantly higher than 
those of  the governments of  Nigeria, South Africa and 
Morocco. Lastly, the percentage budgetary allocations to 
the education sector by the government of  Morocco are 
not significantly different from those of  South Africa, but 
they are significantly higher than those of  the government 
of  Nigeria and significantly lower than each of  those of  
the governments of  Ghana, Senegal and Kenya.

Furthermore, observations made from the viewing of  
Figures 1 to 6 necessitated the conduction of  the Student’s 
t-test (without equal variances assumed). The Student’s 
t-test was used to ascertain if  the annual percentage 
allocations to the education sectors of  each of  the selected 
African countries by their respective governments are 
significantly different (less than or greater than) or even 
not different from each of  the UNESCO’s 15%, 20% and 
26% recommended benchmarks. The summary of  some 
of  the descriptive statistics and the test results outputs are 
as presented in Table 5.

Table 5: Some descriptive statistics and the result outputs’ of  the Student’s t-test for significant differences of  the 
percentage budgetary allocations to the education sectors of  some selected African countries (1999-2021)
Country Min. Value Max. Value Mean Standard 

Deviation
UNESCO’s Benchmarks
15% 20% 26%

Nigeria 1.69 11.12 7.81 2.74 1.79E-16*L 3.97E-25*L 2.62E-32*L

Ghana 11.73 39.02 24.37 6.66 1.37E-08*H 1.50E-03*H 0.12#

South Africa 15.24 25.76 19.49 2.13 2.74E-13*H 0.13# 8.56E-19*L

Senegal 15.73 27.80 21.32 3.75 1.49E-10*H 0.05# 1.75E-07*L

Kenya 15.72 27.47 21.70 3.74 3.00E-11*H 0.02*H 8.69E-07*L

Morocco 5.14 31.06 17.61 5.95 0.02*H 0.03*L 1.30E-08*L

*L Significantly low difference  *H Significantly high difference  # No significant difference

The p-Values in the result outputs in Table 5 show 
that the average percentage budgetary allocation to 
the education sector by the government of  Nigeria 
for the period, 1999 to 2021 (which is about 7.81%), is 
significantly lower than each of  the UNESCO’s 15%, 
20% and 26% recommended benchmarks. The average 
percentage budgetary allocation to the education sector 
by the government of  Ghana for the period, 1999 to 
2021 (which is about 24.37%), is significantly higher than 
each of  the UNESCO’s 15% and 20% recommended 
benchmarks but not that of  26%. The average percentage 
budgetary allocation to the education sector by the 
government of  South Africa for the period, 1999 to 2021 
(which is about 19.49%), is significantly higher than the 
UNESCO’s 15% benchmark, not significantly different 
from the 20% benchmark but significantly lower than 
the 26% benchmark. The average percentage budgetary 
allocation to the education sector by the government 
of  Senegal for the period, 1999 to 2021 (which is about 
21.32%), is significantly higher than the UNESCO’s 
15% benchmark, not significantly different from the 
20% benchmark but significantly lower than the 26% 
benchmark. The average percentage budgetary allocation 
to the education sector by the government of  Kenya 
for the period, 1999 to 2021 (which is about 21.70%), 
is significantly higher than each of  the UNESCO’s 15% 
and 20% recommended benchmarks but significantly 
lower than the 26% benchmark. The average percentage 
budgetary allocation to the education sector by the 
government of  Morocco for the period, 1999 to 2021 
(which is about 17.61%), is significantly higher than the 
UNESCO’s 15% but significantly lower than each of  the 

20% and 26% recommended benchmarks.

Adherence Levels to the UNESCO’s Benchmarks 
by the Governments of  Each of  the Selected African 
Countries (1999-2021)
The average percentage budgetary allocations to the 
education sectors by the different governments of  
the selected African countries from 1991 to 2021 were 
ranked with a view to showing their levels of  adherence 
to the UNESCO’s recommended benchmarks. In the first 
phase, the ranking is done as to know how the countries 
performed based on their average percentage budgetary 
allocations to their respective education sectors over the 
years under study. The second phase has the ranking 
done in order to place the levels of  adherence to the 
UNESCO’s recommended benchmarks by each of  the 
selected African countries.
The rankings of  the percentage budgetary allocations to 
the education sector by the government of  Nigeria, as 
well as the selected African countries are as presented in 
Table 6.
The ranking in Table 6 shows that Ghana was topmost 
(with a mean of  24.37%) in the level of  adherence to 
UNESCO’s recommended benchmarks, while Kenya 
(with a mean of  21.70%) and Senegal (with a mean of  
21.32%) came second and third places, respectively. 
Furthermore, South Africa (with a mean of  19.49%) 
and Morocco (with a mean of  17.61%) occupied the 
fourth and fifth places, respectively; while Nigeria 
(with a significantly low mean of  7.81% as well as 
having not leveled up with any of  the three UNESCO’s 
recommended benchmarks) came a distant sixth position.



Pa
ge

 
22

https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajase

Am. J. Appl. Stat. Econ. 3(1) 15-23, 2024

Table 6:  Approaches of  the ranking of  the levels of  adherence to the UNESCO’s   benchmarks by the governments 
of  each of  the selected African countries (1999-2021)
Country Ranking Method 1 Ranking Method 2

% Budgetary Allocations No. of  Annual % Budgetary Allocations
Overall 
Mean

Rank of  the 
Overall Mean

≥ 15% ≥ 20% ≥ 26% Average 
of  RankNo. Rank No. Rank No. Rank

Nigeria 7.81 6 0 6 0 6 0 5.5 5.83
Ghana 24.37 1 21 4 19 1 8 1 2.00
South Africa 19.49 4 23 2 7 4 0 5.5 3.83
Senegal 21.32 3 23 2 14 2.5 2 3.5 2.67
Kenya 21.70 2 23 2 14 2.5 4 2 2.17
Morocco 17.61 5 18 5 5 5 2 3.5 4.50

CONCLUSION
A Two-Factor ANOVA test was carried out to test for 
significant difference(s) in the percentage budgetary 
allocations to the education sectors among the years 
under study by the respective governments of  some 
selected African countries (which include Nigeria, Ghana, 
South Africa, Senegal, Kenya and Morocco) from 1999 to 
2021, as well as the UNESCO’s recommended minimum 
benchmarks. The results show that there was a significant 
difference in the percentage budgetary allocations to 
the education sectors over the years, as well as among 
the percentage budgetary allocations by each of  the 
governments of  Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Senegal, 
Kenya and Morocco to their respective education 
sectors and each of  the UNESCO’s 15%, 20% and 26% 
recommended benchmarks.
The percentage budgetary allocations to the education 
sector by the government of  Nigeria for the period under 
study, (1999-2021), are significantly lower than those of  
Ghana, South Africa, Senegal, Kenya and Morocco. For 
the same period under study, the percentage budgetary 
allocations to the education sector by the government 
of  Ghana are significantly higher than each of  those 
of  South Africa and Morocco, but not significantly 
different from those of  the governments of  Senegal and 
Kenya. Also, the percentage budgetary allocations to the 
education sector by the government of  South Africa are 
not significantly different from those of  Morocco, but 
are significantly lower than each of  those of  Senegal 
and Kenya. The percentage budgetary allocations to 
the education sector by the government of  Senegal are 
not significantly different from those of  Kenya, but are 
significantly higher than those of  Morocco. Lastly, the 
percentage budgetary allocations to the education sector 
by the government of  Kenya are significantly higher than 
those of  Morocco.
Furthermore, for the period, (1999-2021), the average 
percentage budgetary allocation to the education sector 
by the FGN (about 7.81%) is significantly lower than each 
of  the UNESCO’s 15%, 20% and 26% recommended 
benchmarks; while that of  Ghana (about 24.37%) is 
significantly higher than each of  the UNESCO’s 15% 
and 20% recommended benchmarks but not that of  

26%. Also, the average percentage budgetary allocation to 
the education sectors by each the governments of  South 
Africa (about 19.49%) and Senegal (about 21.32%) are 
significantly higher than the UNESCO’s 15% benchmark, 
not significantly different from the 20% benchmark, but 
is significantly lower than the 26% benchmark. The one 
for Kenya (about 21.70%) is significantly higher than 
each of  the UNESCO’s 15% and 20% recommended 
benchmarks, but is significantly lower than the 26% 
benchmark; while the one for Morocco (about 17.61%) 
is significantly higher than the UNESCO’s 15%, but 
significantly lower than each of  the 20% and 26% 
recommended benchmarks.
The average percentage budgetary allocations to the 
education sectors by the different governments of  the 
selected African countries for the period, (1999-2021), 
were ranked to show their respective levels of  adherence 
to the UNESCO’s recommended benchmarks. The 
process ranked Ghana (first), Kenya (second), Senegal 
(third), South Africa (fourth), Morocco (fifth) and Nigeria 
(a distant sixth) with mean annual percentage budgetary 
allocations of  24.37%, 21.70%, 21.32%, 19.49%, 17.61% 
and 7.81%, respectively.

REFERENCES
Callaway, A., & Musone, A. (1968). Financing of  education 

in Nigeria. African Research Monographs-15, 
UNESCO: International Institute for Educational 
Planning. 

Ekaette, S. O., Owan, V. J., & Agbo, D. I. (2019). External 
Debts and the Financing of  Education in Nigeria from 
1988-2018: Implication for Effective Educational 
Management.  Journal of  Educational Realities (JERA), 
9(1), 55-68. 

Ghandi, D. (2020). Africa in Focus. African Economic 
Outlook 2020. African Development Bank.

Ifionu, E. P., & Nteegah, A. (2013). Investment in 
Education and Economic Growth in Nigeria: 1981-
2012. West African Journal of  Industrial and Academic 
Research, 9(1), 155-172.

Odigwe, F. N., & Owan, V. J. (2018). Trend Analysis 
of  the Nigerian Budgetary Allocation to the 
Education Sector from 2009 to 2018 with Reference 



Pa
ge

 
23

https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajase

Am. J. Appl. Stat. Econ. 3(1) 15-23, 2024

to UNESCO Benchmark. International Journal of  
Education Benchmark, 14(1).

Omotor, D. G. (2017). Analysis of  Federal Government 
Expenditure in the Education Sector of  Nigeria: 
Implications for National Development. Journal of  

Social Sciences, 9(2), 105-110.
Tilak, J. B. G., & Panchamukhi, P. (2023). Globalization 

and the Shifting Geopolitics of  Education. International 
Encyclopedia of  Education (Fourth Edition).


