Globalisation and Development: Assessing Factors that impede Development among the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)

Regional Governance

Seminar paper from the year 2013 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: Globalization, Political Economics, grade: A, National Institute of Development Administration (Graduate School of Public Administration), course: Development Administration and Globalisation, language: English, abstract: In this paper, there is an attempt to assess factors that pose as impediments to the creation of an effective regional block to maximize some of the benefits embedded in integrating regional economies to foster development in West Africa. For the past four decades, West Africa has been experimenting regional economic integration but progress has been slow and without significant results. Thus, there is a need for a more favorable environment for overall trade. The potential of ECOWAS in exploiting economies of scale and enhancing competition has been limited by a number of impediments such as trans-border movement, lack of monetary union, political divide especially with francophone countries still holding allegiance to France under the system of assimilation, protection of market by bigger States (protectionism), lack of institutional framework to champion the cause of economic integration and instability posing as security threat among other factors. Analysts have suggested adopting and replicating the EU model holds the key to overcome these impediments. A critical assessment of the EU model is made to ascertain which aspects of the EU model are adoptable and implementable for ECOWAS to be fully operational to bring about desired economic progress and development. However, the current EU crisis has given analysts a lot to think about and any other regional body (like ASEAN) that desires to pursue full integration. Currently, there are signs to show that some members want to secede from the union either voluntarily or by coercion. On the basis of this development, we outline certain measures as recommendations for ECOWAS.

Joseph Ato Forson is currently a PhD student at the Graduate School of Public Administration, National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA). He's majoring in Policy and Management.