Fragile states and development in West Africa

Abstract

This volume is a collection of the edited papers presented at an ad hoc experts group meeting on Fragile States and Development in West Africa. The meeting dealt with both conceptual and empirical issues regarding fragility and post-conflict reconstruction and development. The report highlights that despite recent good economic growth performance, the African continent still has the world’s most extensive history of civil wars and instabilities. For example, the report further observes that, for the period 1990 to 2000, there were 19 armed conflicts and cross-border civil wars in Africa, and that in 1999 alone 16 African countries were in armed conflict. These observations highlight the widespread prevalence of fragility and conflict on the continent. Among other effects, the report echoes the fact that fragility results in high levels of poverty and inequality which in themselves become sources of further instability on the continent. Further, the report alludes to the challenges of post-conflict recovery and notes that extricating a country from fragility requires addressing the often dynamic causes in a sustainable manner.