Accelerated Economic Growth in West Africa

The book provides a detailed analysis of the causes of West Africa's current economic high-growth episode and proposes ways to extend it sustainably. It examines the potential role of regional integration through the establishment of a common currency union and of other policy options that can enhance economic growth. The authors suggest appropriate methods of coordination between macroeconomic policy and industrialization to achieve higher economic growth and also examine why pro-poor strategies have not been successful. The book underscores the challenges and opportunities that will arise from the structural change to the region's economies resulting from the necessary investment in manufacturing exports, ICT and infrastructure, which are key vehicles for extended growth. Readers will learn how the region can better reach its developmental goals by securing and perpetuating political liberty and transactional freedom for all its citizens.  

Diery Seck is Director of the Center for Research on Political Economy (CREPOL), based in Dakar, Senegal. He was Director of the United Nations African Institute for Economic Development and Planning (UNIDEP). Previously he served as Executive Director of the Secretariat for Institutional Support for Economic Research in Africa (SISERA) of Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC). Before returning to Africa in 1995, he was Associate Professor of Finance at the University of Windsor in Canada and Economist at the World Bank in Washington D.C. He specializes in financial economics and development economics. Dr. Seck has authored several articles in academic journals and published books on economic development. He was co-editor of the Journal of African Finance and Economic Development. He is currently a member of the Editorial Boards of Global Governance Journal (University of Warwick), and the Journal of African Development. His latest books are entitled NEPAD and the Future of Economic Policy in Africa; Growth and Development in Africa; Back on Track: Sector-led Growth in Africa and Implications for Development; West Africa and the Global Financial Crisis; Regional Integration in West Africa; and Private Sector Development in West Africa.