The West Africa Cluster
Background
Composed of 16 countries, West Africa has 293 million inhabitants with an average GDP per capita of $1,419.
Of the 16 countries, five (Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Mauritania, Ghana and Benin) have proven oil and gas reserves, while new discoveries have recently been reported in Niger, Sierra Leone and Senegal.
As at March 2009, West Africa holds 31 percent of Africa’s crude oil reserves and produces 21 percent. The region contains 38 percent of Africa’s natural gas reserves and accounts for 18 percent of its exports.
West Africa has considerable reserves of diamonds, gold, uranium, bauxite/alumina, iron/steel and phosphates. It accounts for 6 percent of the world’s gold production and 29 percent of Africa’s output.
The region is also known for such cash crops as cocoa, cotton, palm oil, peanuts, timber, coffee, rubber and fish. West Africa accounts for 93 percent of Africa’s total cocoa production and 62 percent of global output.
These bountiful resources and promising future make West Africa one of the most sought-after African regions by investors. However, West Africa has a long history of political and economic volatility, with destabilizing conflicts often leaping from one country to another. Several countries remain highly unstable.
About the B&M West Africa Cluster (WAC)
B&M’s West Africa Cluster (WAC) is a highly specialized research group of B&M analysts that provides clients with timely analysis on political, economic, security and social developments affecting West Africa, and forecasts the impact of these developments on a client’s bottom-line.
The Applications for Business and Investment
WAC analysts help clients incorporate political risk management into their plans for business in West Africa, especially at the point of entry and expansion.
Our flexible research model and pioneering AfriRisk Index©, the first comparative country risk index modeled to distinctively monitor, measure, and forecast political, economic, social, and security risks unique to Africa, can be adapted to track categories of risks prevalent in West Africa and pertinent to a client’s investment plans.
WAC analysts also advise NGOs, non-profits, foreign aid donors, multilateral organizations and foreign governments (municipal, provincial and national), and help them (and other clients) monitor and manage the political risks of engaging institutions operating at the sub-regional level, including the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
For more information, please contact the West Africa Cluster (WAC) directly at wac@bmconsultancy.net
West Africa Cluster Analysts
In addition to being experts on general African politics, history and business, WAC analysts are particularly well-versed on and well-traveled within West Africa, possessing the requisite language skills.
They monitor all developments affecting West Africa, including those occurring within and outside the region.
WAC is supported by field research analysts and on-the-ground monitors based in several West African countries, strategically positioned to help our clients navigate and manage the day-to-day political, security and social risks of doing business on the ground.
The Space
WAC conducts its research on a sub-regional, national, state, provincial, municipal and industry level.
It covers all 16 West African countries individually and collectively as members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a sub-regional organization promoting economic integration, trade, foreign investments and conflict resolution.
WAC analysts work in close collaboration with other B&M industry and regional clusters to provide clients with insightful comparative analysis of the business environment across multiple cities, states, countries, and regions.
Coverage Area (16 Countries)
Benin
Burkina Faso
Cape Verde
Côte d'Ivoire
Gambia
Ghana
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Liberia
Mali
Mauritania*
Niger
Nigeria
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Togo
Common Research Topics
Oil and gas exploration and production in Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mauritania, Nigeria, Niger, Sierra Leone and Senegal.
Mineral extraction – especially gold, diamonds, iron/steel, uranium, bauxite and coal – in resource-rich countries.
Agribusiness, with a focus on the production of cash crops like cocoa, cotton, palm oil, peanuts, timber, coffee, rubber and fish.
The discovery of new oil and gas reserves in countries like Niger, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Mauritania and Ghana.
The impact and likelihood of contagion from ongoing instability in Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania and Niger.
Increasing integration and connectivity among ECOWAS members. For example, the West African Monetary Zone, a group of 6 ECOWAS countries (Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone), plan to introduce a common currency (the Eco) by the year 2015.
Militancy in Nigeria’s oil-and-gas-producing Niger Delta region.
The potential of recidivism in countries with recent conflicts (i.e. Sierra Leone and Liberia).
The impact of desertification on several West Africa countries along the southern fringes of the Sahara Desert.
For more information, please contact the West Africa Cluster (WAC) directly at wac@bmconsultancy.net |
