Fifteen independent States have emerged in West Africa since the independence of Ghana in 1957. These States include Benin, Burkina Faso, Cte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo. Poverty and low living standards in the area are as widespread now as they were at independence, harsh evidence that there has been little improvement in social and economic conditions over the past thirty years. Efforts to develop the region have consumed vast resources since independence, but success has been minimal. This chapter reviews changing population structures and issues of health, economic changes since independence (principal causes of poor economic performance, structural adjustment), political turmoil and government inexperience, urban expansion and its effects, the development of the industrial sector, the impact of Nigeria’s oil, the search for appropriate forms of agricultural development, and the causes and effects of environmental degradation. Bibliogr.
