This paper presents the overview of the legal and institutional frameworks of research with human beings in sub-Saharan Africa, in particular in Benin, Cameroon and Nigeria. Concerning the methodology, a literature review focused on the regulations of institutional frameworks was done. Then, 28 semi-structured interviews were conducted with members of ethics committees to assess their composition and their mode of operation. Finally, we describe the existing courses in research ethics included in programs of first, second and third cycles in major universities from concerned countries.Concerning structures, all countries have normative and functional ethics committees concerned with the basics of ethics in health research. However, these ethics committees face several challenges including the lack of funding, deficiencies in the training of their members and the application of the ethical evaluation to qualitative and mixed researches.