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Corresponding Author:
Kanfitine Lare-Lantone, University of Lomé, Togo and Sheridan College, Ontario, Canada

Coauthors:
Emmanuel Anoruo, Coppin State University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

West African Regional Economics Integration and Colonial Ties

July 30, 2024
JEL classification: : E31; E52; H30; F45; O42
Keywords: Colonial; Economic Ties; Monetary Ties; Real Convergence; Monetary Convergence; Monetary Union; ECOWAS; WAEMU; WAMZ

Abstract

We investigated the impact inherited colonial ties exert on the regional economic integration of the ECOWAS. For, we substituted in a SVAR framework, regional members’ domestic structural shocks with supply price shocks from former colonial countries (France, Portugal, and the UK), the region, and the global economy to assess their effects on their real sector convergence variables. Findings reveal that regional supply price shocks contributed the most to changes in output, supply price shocks from the former colonial country contributed the most to changes in regional trade, and regional supply price shocks contributed the most to changes in investments. The predominance of pairs of countries of different colonial heritages sharing symmetric responses to the external supply price shocks is due in part to the proximity effect. Comparatively, member countries exhibited more synchronous output, regional trade, and investments responses to the supply price shocks than they did with monetary variables. They also exhibit more real variables convergence.

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West African Regional Economics Integration and Colonial Ties

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Institute for International Economics of the Genoa Chamber of Commerce

Institute for International Economics
of the Genoa Chamber of Commerce