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It is the aspiration of every country to achieve development. Since the middle of the last century, numerous international development institutions have sought to elevate developing countries out of poverty. But they have been overwhelmingly unsuccessful. In response, the United Nations designed and ratified the Millennium Development Declaration in 2000 with a list of eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to be achieved by 2015. This study uses mixed-methods analysis. The dissertation examines the rollout of the MDGs in West Africa and examines why we see divergent outcomes of these goals for countries with similar histories, geographies, and resource bases. The dissertation focuses on the cases of Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Guinea., to understand the uneven distribution of success and failure. Focusing on these uneven achievements, the dissertation aims to explain the divergent outcomes of these goals between 2000 and 2015. It highlights the successful strategies that offer the clear path toward meeting the Sustainable Development Goals agenda, the next phase of the MDGS.