Strengthening Fiscal Discipline and Public Financing of the Economy: An Integrated Approach Applied to UEMOA and the Sahel

This article analyzes the macroeconomic and institutional conditions under which fiscal discipline can become a driver of productive growth rather than a constraint of austerity. It introduces the concept of transformational discipline, defined as the cumulative interaction between credible fiscal rigor, effective public financing, and institutional transparency. This integrated approach is based on the assumption that fiscal sustainability is not limited to deficit control, but depends on the quality of public spending and the credibility of institutions. The research relies on a dynamic econometric model of the ARDL/ECM type and its panel extensions (PMG and CS-ARDL), applied to ten UEMOA and Sahel countries over the period 1990–2024. Three composite indices are constructed and validated: the Fiscal Discipline Index (IDF), the Productive Public Financing Index (IFP), and the Extended Fiscal Discipline Index (IDF+), which incorporates budget transparency. Reliability tests (PCA, KMO, Cronbach's alpha) confirm the statistical robustness of the indices. The results show that credible discipline has a significant positive impact on growth (+0.35 percentage points), that productive spending amplifies this effect (+0.38 points), and that transparency reinforces their interaction (+25%). The interaction IDF×IFP (+0.12) confirms the structural complementarity between fiscal rigor and efficiency. Prospective simulations suggest that an improvement of three points in the tax ratio, two points in productive investment, and 25% in transparency could increase regional growth by approximately 1.2 percentage points per year by 2030. The study concludes that transformational fiscal discipline, grounded in credibility, productivity, and governance, represents a sustainable path toward African economic sovereignty.