Doing Business in West Africa - A Presentation at the Business Forum of the Ikeja Lom of Jci Nigeria

8/8/2019 Doing Business in West Africa - A Presentation at the Business Forum of the Ikeja Lom of Jci Nigeria

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DOING BUSINESSIN WEST AFRICA

OPPORTUNITIES & CHALLENGES

A PRESENTATION AT THE

BUSINESS FORUM ON WEST AFRICA

ORGANISED BY THE

JUNIOR CHAMBER INTERNATIONAL NIGERIA

IKEJA CHAPTER

SEPTEMBER 2008


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WEST AFRICA - HISTORICAL

CULTURAL SIMILARITY Foods / Music /

Community Based Lifestyle

RELIGIOUS BELIEFS Traditional / Islam /Christianity

GOVERNANCE Monarchies / Theocracies

COLONIALISM France / Great Britain COLONIAL GOVERNMENT Assimilation Vs

Direct / Indirect Rule


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THE MAP OF WEST AFRICA - 1870


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AFRICA EARLY 20TH CENTURY


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WEST AFRICA - PRESENT

CULTURE Dominant Anglo / Franco influence.

RELIGION Essentially historical; increasing

influence of modern religion. GOVERNANCE Modern Democracies;

traditional governance secondary.

LANGUAGE Official:- French or English;Unofficial:- local languages.


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THE MAP OF WEST AFRICA - ECOWAS


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WEST AFRICA TRADE FACTORS

SOCIOCULTURAL

COLONIAL HERITAGE

POPULATION ECONOMIC ADVANCEMENT

NATURAL RESOURCES

INFRASTRUCTURE

MUNICIPAL GOVERNANCE


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FRANCOPHONE WEST AFRICA

Laws are based on French law

Official Language:- French

Currency Exchange:- Ease with the FrenchFranc

External Trade Partners:- Typically French

speaking. Common currency across all countries.

Single Central Bank.


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WEST AFRICA

ECONOMIC INTEGRATION

ECOWAS

The Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) is a regional group of fifteen countries,

founded in 1975. Its mission is to promote economic integration in "all fields of

economic activity, particularly industry, transport, telecommunications, energy, agriculture, natural

resources, commerce, monetary and financial questions, social and cultural matters ....."

The Institutions of the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) are as follows:The CommissionThe Community ParliamentThe Community Court OF JusticeECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID)

The ECOWAS Commission and the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and

Development, more often called The Fund are its two main institutions designed to implementpolicies, pursue a number of programmes and carry out development projects in Member States.

Such projects include intra-community road construction and telecommunications; and agricultural,

energy and water resources development.


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WEST AFRICA

DEVELOPMENTAL SUPPORT

MissionTogether with governments, regional institutions and civil society/private sector

organisations, the Sahel and West Africa Club (SWAC) supports the development and

implementation of action-oriented policies and investments that take into account the

complementarities between local, national and regional levels. It supports West African

initiatives to promote medium- and long-term development.

The SWAC also helps identify strategic questions on the regions future and facilitates

exchanges between regional actors and OECD member countries that lead to concrete

actions on the ground.

Origin & EvolutionOriginally founded by OECD member countries as Club du Sahel in 1976 to raise

international support

and awareness of the drought crisis in the Sahel region, the Club extended its geographic

coverage in 2001 to encompass all 17 West African countries, home to approximately 290

million people. While taking into account the problems and challenges of the region, the

SWAC along with its African partners has developed a prospective vision of West Africa

which focuses on the identification and promotion of the dynamics of change as well as the

drivers of change. Today, the SWACs mission is to help identify and address strategic

questions related to medium- and long-term development in West Africa.


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WEST AFRICA

DEVELOPMENTAL SUPPORTObjectives

The SWAC's main objectives are to:

Help identify strategic questions related to medium- and long-term development in West

Africa;

Contribute to mobilising and strengthening African capacities within a network approach;

Support initiatives and efforts by West Africans to promote medium- and long-term

development in the region;Facilitate exchanges between regional actors and OECD member countries;

Promote constructive debates that lead to innovative decisions within and outside the

region aimed at building a better future for the region.

Work AreasTaking into account realities and needs on the ground, the SWAC focuses its work on fourareas of concentration:

Medium- and Long-Term Development Perspectives

Rural Transformation and Sustainable Development

Governance, Conflict Dynamics, Peace and Security

Local Development and the Process of Regional Integration


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THANKYOU

Doing Business in West Africa - A Presentation at the Business Forum of the Ikeja Lom of Jci Nigeria

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