Towards a Better Regional Approach to Development in West Africa Conclusions of the Special Event of Sahel and West Africa Club, May 2002

This book presents the conclusions of a meeting of the Sahel and West Africa Club in Accra, Ghana, in May 2002 on the following topic : 'Towards a Better Regional Approach to Development in West Africa'. Regional cooperation is still only approached from an institutional perspective whilst field dynamics, economic actions and their transactions and demographic changes are forces that define spaces that regional policies seldom take into account. Important questions emerged from the Accra debates: How to harmonise 'real' spaces with institutional integration spaces? Do certain groups of actors have a constructive vision and can they contribute to the formulation of a credible regional project? Do these 'real' spaces, especially those defined by 'informal' exchanges, along with those targeted by multinational companies have positive or negative effects on the regional economy? Could they prefigure future official areas for integration? The book is for development economists, African researchers, NGOs and regional integration organisations.