With eight years to go before the goal of the Education 2030 Agenda are due to be achieved, Africa continent is still facing many different challenges in the education and training sector. Which priorities should we, the Africa Office of the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP), as a privileged partner of ministries in charge of education and training, focus on to maximize the impact of our action? To mark the twentieth anniversary of IIEP UNESCO Dakar, we wanted to share our insights. Our findings are based on evidence from over 50 education sector analyses conducted since 2001 in partnership with African countries. This approach has enabled us to identify the lowest common denominator of the challenges we are facing today: the five education challenges in Africa. In line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda, these themes now guide our actions and our strategic direction.