Regional Underperformance and the Malformation of West Africa
60 Pages Posted: 4 Apr 2024 Last revised: 22 Oct 2024
Date Written: February 26, 2024
Abstract
West Africa has underperformed in a range of economic, human development and political stability indicators. Several scholars have proposed political and economic geography explanations for this relative underperformance. This paper proposes a single analytical framework with which to explain the region’s performance called ‘malformation’. This refers to the alteration in West Africa’s political and economic geography in a way that induces economic and political underdevelopment and instability and is relevant for understanding both West Africa’s development trajectory relative to other African regions and intra-regional variation in these trajectories. Dividing I-pattern malformation into horizontal and vertical malformation, the paper focuses on the vertical malformation component, specifically malformation in coast-savannah and Sahel-Saharan relations. Based on this, and drawing on the secondary literature and secondary data, the 16 West African countries are categorized into four zones of vertical malformation that are argued to have explanatory power for intra-regional variation in economic outcomes, political stability and conflict: a zone of reversal (Nigeria and Mali), a zone of divergence (Benin, Togo, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Niger, Burkina Faso and Mauritania), a zone of equal suppression (Gambia, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau) and a zone of stability (Cabo Verde and Senegal).
Keywords: West Africa, spatial inequality, ethnic inequality, political geography
JEL Classification: N00, N97
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation