Regional Economic Integration in West Africa

?This book presents a number of key studies pertaining to the most pressing challenges of economic regional integration in West Africa. The issues of monetary coordination, foreign exchange volatility, taxation, savings and macroeconomic convergence are investigated from a regional perspective.  The characteristics of West Africa's trade policy are reviewed and assessed in comparison to that of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The extent to which regional integration can tackle the challenge of unemployment is the focus of studies on labour markets. Development of the private sector and coordination of regional cross-border transportation are examined through the lens of economic collaboration between Arab and African countries.  The book provides fresh new answers to persistent development questions and sheds new light on long-held views that are either incomplete or no longer true. It also opens new perspectives on the search for sustainable avenues for Africa's development. In this regard, it may contribute to the emergence of a new paradigm on Africa's development process and its science-based, policy-oriented implementation.

Diery Seck is Director of the Center for Research on Political Economy (CREPOL), based in Dakar, Senegal, since 2009. From 2002 to 2008, he was Director of the United Nations African Institute for Economic Development and Planning (IDEP). 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 Fixing African Economies: Policy Research for Development; 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; and West Africa and the Global Financial Crisis. He serves as an expert for the African Union, African Regional Economic Communities, African governments and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa on issues of economic policy and sustainable development.