I. RATIONALE FOR REGIONAL INTEGRATION IN WEST AFRICA
2. HISTORICAL AND PRACTICAL REASONS
For historical and practical reasons, West Africa is an appropriate area for integration.
2.1. Historical facts and geographical context
A report published by the Network of West African NGO Platforms (REPAOC, Manuel pédagogique sur l’intégration régionale à destination des acteurs non gouvernementaux, April 2011) makes the case that West Africa is a historically integrated region, composed of ethno-settlement areas that were disrupted by the political borders arbitrarily imposed during colonization. The report argues that it is the states established by colonization that have created obstacles to integration.
Among the peoples of the West African region, there is indeed a level of trust generated by the shared history and co-existence of the pre-colonial empires (Ghana and Mali), the Mandinka or Fula nation (Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone), the Hausa nation (Niger, Nigeria), an Akan nation (Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo) or Yoruba nation (Nigeria and Benin, but also Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Togo), and others.
Mobility was fluid in the sub-region, facilitating a cross-fertilization of ideas and creating an organic process of integration.
The report asserts that political integration should create conditions for deepening or renewing ties and for facilitating people-to-people exchanges in the region. Yet several natural homogeneous spaces, river basins and production basins, which justify common policies, are today separated by borders.
Complementarities exist between various agro-climatic zones (Sahelian, sub-humid tropical and
humid tropical zones) that cut across the entire region from East to West. These zones could be used strategically to enhance economic complementarities in the sub-region.
Several Sahelian countries depend on key southern and western ports of the region to access the rest of the world, underscoring the relevance of regional integration. With demographic growth and advances in means of transportation, the divisions which historically existed the human settlements have largely been erased.
2.2. Cross-border initiatives and activities
The REPAOC report identified several cross-border initiatives and cooperation efforts in West Africa.
Whether for economic, social or cultural ends, these activities are based on diverse elements that transcend political boundaries: proximity of urban centres, as in the Sikasso-Korhogo-Bobo area;
language, as in the case of cross-border network of community radio stations in Guinea Bissau, Senegal and The Gambia; or proximity of a market such as the
“louma” of Diaobe in Senegal.
Regional Dynamics in Sikasso-Korhogo-Bobo Dioulasso Zone
Sikasso, Korhogo and Bobo Dioulasso constitute a triangular production zone, as well a population and commercial hub. These three towns are 400km away from major urban centres (Bamako, Bouake, and Ouagadougou) and have together developed trade synergies and evolved independently of the capital cities of their respective countries. These dynamics are facilitated by the cultural ties within this cross-border area: the Voltaic, Senoufo and Bobo area, together with the longstanding presence, in trade
Sparse (arid)
Pastoral Agro-pastoral (millet/sorghum)
Irrigated Irrigated areas in rainfed farming system Cereal-root crop mixed
Root crop
Coastal artisanal fishing Tree crop
Highland temperate mixted
Forest based
© Sahel and West Africa Club / OECD 2006 180 mi
90 0
Dispersé (aride)
Pastoral
Agropastoral (mil/sorgho)
Irrigué Zones irriguées dans les systèmes pluviaux Culture mixte céréales/tubercules
Tubercules
Pêche artisanale côtière Cultures arboricoles
Mixte tempéré des hauts plateaux
Axé sur la forêt
© Club du Sahel et de l'Afrique de l'Ouest / OCDE 2007 300 km 150 0 Source : FAO, Banque mondiale (2001)
Chart 1: Ethno-Linguistic Settlements
Source: Atlas of regional integration in West Africa
Chart 2: Production Systems in West Africa
Source: ECOWAS-SWAC/OECD, 2007
SONGHAI
WOLOF
HAUSA
GBE MANDINGO
FULAH
AKAN
YORUBA Monrovia
Freetown Conakry Bissau Banjul Dakar
Nouakchott
Niamey
Abuja
Yaoundé
N‘Djamena
Porto Novo Lomé Accra Abidjan Yamoussoukro
Ouagadougou Bamako
Origin of language Extended area of language Overlaping area of language
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Section i: RAtionALe FoR ReGionAL inteGRAtion in WeSt AFRicA
ECOWAS AT 40 AN ASSESSMENT OF PROGRESS TOWARDS REGIONAL INTEGRATION IN WEST AFRICA
20%
Percentage of the West African population living in the zone
MOROCCO
Source: FAO, SWAC / OECD (2006) © Sahel and West Africa Club / OECD 2007
100 200 km Zone humide et sub-humide
Pourcentage de la population ouest-africaine habitant dans la zone
and in power circles, of the Dioula minority tribe (Mandingo group)3.
The cross-border network of community radio stations in Guinea Bissau, Senegal and The Gambia – RETRARC GUISENGAMB
In 2006, with assistance from Enda Diapol, 11 radio stations in the Senegambia cross-border area came together to form the Cross-Border Network of Community Radio Stations in Guinea Bissau, Senegal and The Gambia known (in French) as “RETRARC – GUISENGAMB”. This network aims to strengthen cultural and economic integration among the
3 SWAC, PDM, workshop to launch a pilot cross-border operation, Cross-border Initiatives Programme, ECOWAS, 2005, http://www.afriquefrontieres.org/images/pdf/terrain/skbo/
synthesesikasso.pdf
peoples, and to support cross-border community radio in promoting exchange and solidarity. Through the network, member stations have adopted
common approaches to training, information and programming.
Diaobe Market in Senegal’s Kolda region: an element of regional integration
Cross-border exchanges, which are more visible in the “informal” sector, illustrate “integration from the bottom up”4. The weekly markets that exist throughout West Africa draw traders across borders.
The Diaobe “louma” (weekly market), situated in the Kolda region of southeastern Senegal, brings
4 « Diplomatie non-gouvernementale au service de l’intégration régionale en Afrique de l’Ouest », Sodji, Valentin Quam, FONGTO, www.fongto.net
Chart 3: Human Settlements and Climatic Conditions
Source: ECOWAS-SWAC/OECD, 2007
together traders from The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mali and Senegal. Box 1 below describes the
main trade clusters and commercial routes in West Africa.
Box 1: Trade clusters and commercial routes According to a study by ENDA-CACID (2012), West African trade is organised around five hubs and eight corridors.
Trade hubs
The trade hubs described below do not fit into the pattern of the economic integration in force in the region. Rather, they correspond to the way the commercial networks shape the regional market.
•
The Western Cluster, called extended Senegambia, is polarized around Senegal and includes The Gambia, Guinea and Guinea Bissau, Mauritania and western Mali in addition to Senegal. It is marked by trade in local rice, millet and sorghum, for which Mali is the largest supplier.•
The Central Cluster, led by Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, also includes Burkina Faso, Mali and Togo. This subspace iscomparatively best equipped to support regional trade, thanks to the port infrastructures of Tema and Takoradi (Ghana), of Abidjan and San Pedro (Côte d’Ivoire), and of Lome (Togo), together with the Abidjan-Niamey railway, which stops in Ouagadougou.
Transactions involve both live animals, supplied by Mali and Burkina Faso, and manufactured goods from industrial plants in Côte d’Ivoire.
•
The Eastern Cluster, polarized by the leading regional power, Nigeria, also includes Ghana, Niger and two other states of Central Africa: Cameroon and Chad. More than elsewhere, commercial transactions are distinguished by their magnitude and specificity, with stronger presence of informal channels.•
The Southern Metropolitan area, including Benin, Ghana, Togo and southern Nigeria, and which extends to Côte d’Ivoire, is known as the ‘shared prosperity zone’. This area is home to nearly 50% of the population of the region and accounts for nearly 60%of the regional trade, which involves not only manufactured products from Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire, but also imported goods from the rest of the world, including counterfeit goods. However, transactions suffer from inadequate supporting infrastructure.
•
The Sahelian band, which stretches from Kano (Northern Nigeria) to Sikasso in Mali. This subspace trades heavily in dry cereals and enjoys close bonds among its urban enclaves (Kano-Katsina-Maradi and Sikasso-Bobo-Dioulasso-Korhogo).The trade routes
The West African intra-community trade routes or corridors are mainly the result of the scheme established by the économie de traite (a form of barter trade). The routes used by the caravan trade, which had led to the emergence of prosperous stopover cities, have been replaced by North-South corridors for the export of raw materials from the northern regions and landlocked countries through ports of coastal countries. This plan has disrupted the West African trade space and hindered regional market integration. The main corridors include:
•
The Lagos-ABBA-Bénin City corridor,•
The Lagos-Badagri-Cotonou-Lome-Accra-Abidjan corridor,•
The Lagos-Ibadan-Zaria-Kano corridor, which branches off towards Sokoto from Bida in central-western Nigeria and to Zaria and then Maradi, in southern Niger, going through Katsina; the second turn leads to Maiduguri from Kano,•
The Cotonou-Malanville-Dosso-Niamey corridor, with a branch towards Maradi and Zinder,•
Cotonou-Djougou-Porga-Fada N’gourma-Ouagadougou,•
Lomé-Kara-Dapaong-Koupéla-Ouagadougou,•
Accra-Kumassi-Tamalé-Bobo Dioulasso-Ouagadougou,•
Takoradi-Bobo Dioulasso, which extends to Abidjan-Bouake-Bobo Dioulasso-Ouagadougou with access to Korhogo from Bouake, leading to Bamako in the West,•
Conakry-Kankan-Bamako,•
The trans-Saharan road: Kano – Maradi – Niamey – Ouagadougou – Sikasso – Bamako – Dakar – Nouakchott.Source: ENDA CACID, The Reality of Trade in West Africa, 2012 Annual report
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Section i: RAtionALe FoR ReGionAL inteGRAtion in WeSt AFRicA
ECOWAS AT 40 AN ASSESSMENT OF PROGRESS TOWARDS REGIONAL INTEGRATION IN WEST AFRICA