West Africa

three major components of the international system: political and strategic relations, economic and financial exchanges, and environmental questions. The classic means of regulation were not able to control such an evolution, accelerated in 1980s, and new rules were missing for a game of interdependence The planarization of problems, polycentricism of power and globalization of the economy, quickly reshaped the approach to governance. In a quest to regain control, states sought new regulatory instruments through functional cooperations and regionalism (for instance, creation of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) in 1994 ). The entry of African countries into the UN was like a rebirth. Within the organization, the young states were given all the attributes necessary for international existence: right to speak, right to vote, right of entry to all world conferences, and a certain equality guaranteed by the strict rules of the protocol. As a result, many of newly independent nations exercised their foreign policy prioritarily within the UN framework, because of the lack of means to maintain the multiple networks required by an increasingly restrictive globalization 2) Relationships between former colonies and colonizers West Africa’s sixteen countries have been colonized interchangeably by different colonial powers, but in the most recent history, Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, and Togo were under France, Cape Verde and Guinea Bissau under Portugal, Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone under the United Kingdom, and Liberia, temporarily under the United States of America. Until this day, colonized and colonizers entertain tight diplomatic and economic relations through various organisms and entities, including the Commonwealth of Nations for the British, the Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa (Community of Portuguese Language Countries) for the Portuguese, or the more informal Françafrique, which represents the close relationships between France and its former colonies. Although specifics vary from one case to another, what all of these structures have in common is a prioritization and cultivation of the cultural, economic and political ties with former colonizers. II) West Africa in Globalization 1) Political In the political and administrative sector, West-African countries still face struggles in conducting appropriate diplomacy to pull the continent out of its current situation.

However, since the transnationalization of international relations, states no longer have a monopoly over diplomacy. Companies, universities, media networks, NGOs, the world of sports, religions, diasporas have become international players. African diplomacy has therefore become more complex by its actors and its concerns. The march of West Africa towards greater integration of regional policies is combined with efforts to integrate the continent into global governance. These efforts, often translated by the quest for the identification of a single voice speaking on behalf of all and capable of defending the common positions, touch on some of the most important questions of regional dynamics: the construction of a foreign policy common.

2) Economic Having been marginalized for a long time, Africa is now participating in financial globalization: from 2000 to 2015, Foreign Direct Investments have been multiplied by five. These Foreign Direct Investments come from emerging powers (China, Turkey, India). China has become the largest investor on the African continent. The target sectors are diversifying: alongside commodities, financial services, construction and industry are becoming more popular. For example, half of Chinese Foreign Direct Investments are non-extractive activities. The African continent represents a major consumer market with its one billion inhabitants and emerging middle class, which is also a sign of development. In addition, the African population, characterized by strong growth (currently 1 billion inhabitants, 1.5 billion in 2030, 2 billion for 2050) is a considerable workforce allowing the continent to perhaps become \” the new factory of the world”. The increase in production costs in Asian workshop countries also contributes to this. With ¾ of its countries being LDCs and low adult literacy rates, West Africa lacks a skilled workforce to meet the needs of the market. The financial sector is particularly demanding of well-trained employees. In addition, the lack of modern infrastructures (roads, ports) is glaring. This explains Africa\’s modest share of world trade: with 15% of the world\’s population, it accounts for only 3% of world trade. On a global scale, West Africa appears as one, if not the least attractive region of the South: FDIs are more important in Asia and Latin America. At the continental level, FDIs are concentrated between the African Lions (South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria) and some other fast-growing economies such as Ethiopia, Kenya and Rwanda. The majority of West African states therefore remain away this growth.

3) Security From #BringBackOurGirls in Nigeria to Operation Barkhane in Mali, terrorists are often sadly in the news in West Africa. In its 2015 edition, the Global Terrorism Index, a ranking of nations most exposed to terrorism, already indicated that the 30 countries most at risk in the face of the terrorist threat are African or Asian. Today, in a context where the borders are more and more vague, it is necessary to recognize that no point of the terrestrial globe can be said totally safe from the assaults of the terrorists. The proof is that fortress cities like Paris and London have already been the target of jihadists who have made many victims there. Add the United States, Iraq or Sri Lanka, it is appropriate to speak of a globalization of terrorism. With frontiers which seem more and more blurry, the generalization of this terrorism across the area is aberrant: it has become the rear base of various jihadist groups and the theater of many terrorist attacks in the last few years. Boko Haram, Al-Murabitoune and other jihadist groups regularly operate in the region, a territory at the forefront of the fight against terrorism. The answer to terrorism has also been globalized. In an era where Western powers have major interests in West Africa, with multinationals, ONGs and governments having representants and nationals locally, and where the frontiers and collaborations between the countries within the area are tighter than ever, everyone seems to benefit from keeping terrorism from spreading.

4) Humanitarian The comparison of the world economy to a high-speed train, which only dynamic economies could ride, is commonly advanced. In this hypothesis of a growing dualism in international political economy, West-Africa remained on the platform. The first signs of differentiation appeared with the creation of the category \”Least Developed Countries\” proposed by France in 1964. The aim was to draw attention to the plight of the poorest and share the burden of aid. Today, the list includes 12 of the 16 West African countries (Cape Verde having left this group). The debt crisis of the 1980s forced African states to accept the structural adjustment programs of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) while the end of the cold war was synonymous with declining official development assistance (ODA). But the twenty-first century changed the context: with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), ODA is moving once again towards West-African nations. A window of opportunity opens for the continent. The strong global economic growth through 2008 and since 2010 propelled once again Africa into globalization.

III) Consequences of globalization on West African Countries Since the 1970s, there has been an acceleration in the globalization of trade and increased interdependence of national economies. These two phenomena lead to an exacerbation of competition and the formation of large regional economic complexes that transcend state boundaries. The European Union, North America and East Asia (Japan and South-East Asia) appear to be the main poles of this new world economic organization. This economic globalization is reflected in the extension to the whole planet of the movement of goods, capital and, not without problems, people, as is the case with the migration of young West Africans in Libya. Liberalism, which leads to the abolition of customs barriers and national borders, is supposed to eliminate regional specificities, be they economic, political or cultural. But this global evolution itself provokes a differentiation of space: the regional groupings at work in the world serve different purposes and testify to the regional diversities created within globalization. Far from standardizing the countries, they contribute, on the contrary, to increase the differences. On a political and diplomatic approach, Western countries lead and concentrate power clearly and by far (they are members of the G7, are permanent members of the United Nations Executive Council, lead the main global organization such as the International Monetary Funds, the World Bank…). The colonial state bequeathed to Africa not only the capitalist mode of production, and with it the embryo of a new system of social classes, but also, through information and schooling, a certain type of conceiving the institutional and legal apparatus. This forced legacy explains, to a large extent, why Africa\’s current leaders, regardless of their fundamental, capitalist or socialist options, are today faced with a difficult situation that is characterized both by the crisis of political institutions and by a position of dependence often increased with regard to the former colonizer, justifying a constant intrusion of Western governments in internal affairs. In that regard, international aid has been controversial, as the countries receiving that aid hardly ever seem to make their way out of underdevelopment.

According to data published in April 2018 by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), bilateral official aid from member countries of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) to the Continent amounted to 27 billion dollars in 2016, of which 24 billion dollars were allocated to sub-Saharan Africa. According to Chad\’s National Center for Research Support, sub-Saharan Africa would have benefited from more than six hundred billion dollars from member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) since the first independence of these countries. The effectiveness of this aid is rightfully being questioned: in facts, between 1970 and 1988, when the flow of aid to Africa was at its peak, the poverty rate of the populations increased staggeringly from 11% to 66%. That being said, all financial exchanges with West-Africa do not have a humanitarian nature. If most West-African countries present a high economic growth, the latter is often dependent on the exportation of natural resources (Nigerian oil, Guinean bauxite).

Moreover, on the first hand, this growth rarely transforms into real economic and social benefits for the populations which remain extremely poor. On the second hand, manufactured products constitute a fractional percentage of African exports, overstepped by far by raw materials exports, which represent a much lower profit margin and manpower use. On the third hand, natural resources are available in limited quantities and therefore do not represent a long term viable pillar to support an economy. The conclusion is sad, but the aftermath of globalization is the engagement of the West-African region on the wrong side of the capitalist dynamic, where the most notable consequence is a tremendous increase in disparities, both globally and locally.

CONCLUSION

Under the light of the cases presented here, we seem to tend towards the impression under which globalization in the post-colonial era is at the expense of West-African countries. In general, we can consider that independence has remained a myth up to the present day, which allows us to qualify the African states of neo-colonies. It would be interesting in the future to rethink the globalization model, in order for its benefits to be allocated more evenly.