Regionalism in West Africa : a case for rationalization and restructuring

Abstract

This chapter attempts to analyze the case for rationalization and restructuring of the integration efforts in the West African sub region. Towards this end. Section I provides a brief background to the rationalization process in West Africa with particular reference to the existing seminar studies on the subject. Section II focuses attention on the impact of the international environment which has heightened the need for revitalization and acceleration of West African integration through rationalization of the sub regional IGOs, while Section III seeks to analyze the impact of the world of trading blocs on the West African sub region. In Section IV, the challenge to ECOWAS of the approaches to regionalism has been critically assessed. Section V concludes the chapter with a brief overview of the need for meeting the challenge of marginalisation through the process of rationalization. The chapter, on the whole, seeks to provide a broad background to the current study on the subject of rationalization of the integration efforts in the West Africa.