Democracy and the Prospects for Integration in West Africa

The implementation of regional economic cooperation in large parts of Africa since the 1970s and 1980s has met with limited success. Unviability and weakness remain a salient feature of most African economies. The question arises whether the introduction or restoration of democracy throughout the continent in recent years will accelerate the formation and functioning of larger economic and political entities on a regional basis and perhaps their eventual integration. Dr Kwame Boafo-Arthur, a political scientist at the University of Ghana, looks at these phenomena in West Africa.