Abstract

This project will finance an international conference on regional integration in West Africa. This multidisciplinary conference will bring together participants from the research, political, and private sectors around a series of key issues, so that they may better understand the problems and possibilities that regional integration would entail. The results of the conference will include the publication of the proceedings and better cooperation on the part of the various participants in the matter of research on regional integration. The conference will incorporate the results of the national seminars on the same subject that will be held earlier in five of the region's countries.

Post-Project Summary

The research community responded enthusiastically to this initiative: the conference organizers received approximately 300 abstracts and 100 papers, of which 40 were selected for presentation. The conference was held in Dakar, Sénégal, 11-15 January 1993. The research papers covered a wide range of issues relevant to the economic, sociopolitical, institutional, cultural and technological aspects of regional cooperation and integration. Almost 250 people participated, including academics and researchers from the region and elsewhere, and representatives of key regional institutions, donor agencies, government and nongovernmental organizations. The results of the conference were disseminated in the form of a synthesis report and a book available in both French and English, and accessible to a wide public. Free copies were distributed to major universities, research centres and regional bodies, and made available on the Web (see bibliography). The book provides a useful reference on the subject, and suggests some areas for future research.

Recipient Institution(s)