Does infrastructure promote human development in WAEMU? Evidence from global and gender-specific human development indices

This study examines the relationship between public infrastructure and human development in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), with particular attention to gender-specific outcomes. The analysis investigates the effects of water and sanitation, electricity, ICT, and transport infrastructure on the global, female, and male Human Development Index (HDI). Fixed-effects models are combined with Driscoll-Kraay and an instrumental-variable fixed-effects approach. The results reveal substantial heterogeneity across infrastructure types and gender-specific HDI. Electricity and ICT infrastructure are positively associated with human development, particularly for female HDI, while the effects of water and sanitation and transport infrastructure are more heterogeneous across gender dimensions. The nonlinear specifications further show that infrastructure effects are not adequately captured by a constant marginal effect: electricity and ICT exhibit a positive and convex relationship with HDI measures, while transport and water and sanitation display more heterogeneous nonlinear patterns. The findings also indicate that aggregate infrastructure measures may conceal important differences across infrastructure components. These results imply that WAEMU infrastructure policies should move beyond uniform investment strategies. Priority should be given to expanding reliable electricity and digital connectivity while explicitly targeting women’s access to these services; WSS investments should focus on effective access and service quality rather than infrastructure quantity alone; and transport investment should incorporate accessibility, safety, maintenance and gender-responsive spatial planning.