Since 1965, the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) and its partners have contributed to the development of West Africa. Under the guidance of His Highness the Aga Khan, the AKDN established an institutional structure to support economic, social, environmental and cultural development. It partnered with national governments, civil society organisations, communities and future-minded private sector actors to pursue a common vision of stronger nations, with improved quality of life for local communities.

This study focuses on the work that the Network undertook from 2005 to 2020, a period when several of its agencies including the Aga Khan Foundation, the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, the Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance and the Aga Khan Trust for Culture were operating together in the region.

Their contributions included strengthening rural economies; supporting key agricultural value chains such as cashew, cotton and sugar; fostering energy generation through sustained infrastructure investments; supporting local entrepreneurs by facilitating access to credit where it was often unavailable; enhancing climate change adaptation; accessing water, education and health services; supporting architectural rehabilitation and investing in long-established earthen architecture mosques, a modern urban park and zoo revitalisation.