UNESCO SCIENCE REPORT

18 . West Africa
Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau,
Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo
West Africa
George Essegbey, Nouhou Diaby and Almamy Konte
INTRODUCTION
A drive to achieve middle-income status by 2030
Most West African countries are striving to achieve lower
or upper middle-income status 1 within the next 15 years.
This goal is enshrined in the current development plans and
economic policies of Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Liberia,
Mali, Senegal and Togo, for instance. Nigeria even plans to
join the world’s top 20 economies by 2020. Yet, for two-thirds
of West African countries, middle-income status remains an
elusive goal: annual GDP per capita remains below US$ 1 045
in all of Benin, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau,
Liberia, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone and Togo.
Countries’ development plans tend to have three main
thrusts: wealth creation, greater social equity and more
sustainable development. In their quest for middle-income
status, they are giving priority to improving governance
1. Five countries have already achieved lower middle-income status, namely:
Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal. The next step will be upper
middle-income status.
practices, creating a more business-friendly climate, stronger
health and agricultural systems, modern infrastructure and a
skilled labour force. These plans reflect a desire to exploit the
resources which form the backbone of their economies in a
more sustainable manner and a determination to diversify
and modernize the economy. None of this will be possible
without a skilled labour force and recourse to science,
technology and innovation (STI).
Strong growth in recent years, despite a series of crises
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
has experienced strong economic growth in recent years,
despite a series of crises.
In Mali, a Tuareg rebellion in January 2012 attempted to
establish an independent homeland in the north through an
alliance with jihadist groups. The situation has stabilized since
the government appealed for French intervention in January
2013 but remains fragile. The conflict caused Mali’s economy
to shrink by 0.4% in 2012, after six years of sustained growth
of 5% on average (Figure 18.1).
Figure 18.1: Economic growth in West Africa, 2005–2013 (%)
20
Sierra Leone 20.1
15
10
5
0
9.5
8.7
6.9
6.1
5.9
5.6
4.9
4.5
4.3
3.4
3.0
2.9
1.3
1.2
-0.9
Liberia 11.3
Côte d’Ivoire 8.7
Ghana 7.1
Burkina Faso 6.5
Gambia 5.6
Benin 5.6
Nigeria 5.4
Togo 5.1
Senegal 4.0
Niger 3.9
Guinea 2.5
Mali 2.1
Cabo Verde 0.5
Guinea-Bissau 0.3
-5
% 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Chapter 18
Source: World Bank’s World Development Indicators, September 2014.
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