Fragile States and Development in West Africa West in Development and States Fragile
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Fragile States and Development in West Africa Economic Commission for Africa Fragile States and Development in West Africa Printed by the UNECA Documents Publishing Unit, Addis Ababa December 2012, 350 Economic Commission for Africa Fragile States and Development in West Africa February 2012 UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA Sub-Regional Office for West Africa (ECA/SRO-WA) Design, layout and production by Phoenix Design Aid A/S, Denmark. ISO 14001/ISO 9000 certified and approved CO2 neutral company – www.phoenixdesignaid.com. Printed on environmentally friendly paper (without chlorine) with vegetable-based inks. The printed matter is recyclable. Contents Foreword 6 Acknowledgements 8 Introduction 9 Chapter 1 The Definition, Causes and Measurement of Fragility and the Development Challenges Faced by Fragile States: An Overview 14 Chapter 2 Post Conflict Reconstruction and Development in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities 45 Chapter 3 Supporting Recovery and Development in Fragile States in West Africa: The Ecowas Experience 65 Chapter 4 Supporting Development in Fragile States in West Africa: The African Development Bank Framework 76 Chapter 5 Fragility and Development in Guinea 89 Chapter 6 Fragility and Development in Liberia 149 Chapter 7 Fragility and Development in Niger 196 Chapter 8 State Fragility in Nigeria: Causes and Possible Solutions 219 Chapter 9 From Fragility to Sustainable Peace and Development in Sierra Leone 242 Chapter 10 Strengthening Stability for Development in West Africa: Conclusions and Recommendations 272 Abbreviations and Acronyms ACBF African Capacity Building Foundation ADB African Development Bank AFD Aide Française au Développement (French Development Agency) BCEAO Banque Centrale des Etats d’Afrique de l’Ouest (Central Bank of West African States BEAC Banque des Etats d’Afrique Centrale (Bank of Central African States) CET Common External Tariff CILSS Comité permanent Inter-Etats de lutte contre la sécheresse au Sahel (Inter-State Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel) CNDD National Council for Democracy and Development (Conseil national pour la dé- mocratie et le développement) DAC Development Assistance Committee ECOWAS Economic Community of West African States EU European Union FAO United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation FCFA Franc de la Communauté Financière Africaine (African Financial Community Franc) FDI Foreign Direct Investment FSF Fragile States Facility (FSF) FSI Failed State Index GDP Gross Domestic Product IAG Index for African Governance ICT Information and Communication Technology IMF International Monetary Fund LICUS Low Income Countries under Stress MDGs Millennium Development Goals NEPAD New Partnership for Africa’s Development OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development PRSF Poverty Reduction Strategic Framework PRSP Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper SSA Sub- Saharan Africa UA Unit of Account (used by ADB) UEMOA Union Economique Monétaire Ouest Africaine (West African Economic and Mon- etary Union) UNCTAD United Nations Conference on Trade and Development UNDP United Nations Development Programme 4 Fragile States and Development in West Africa UNHCR United Nations High Commission for Refugees UNO United Nations Organization USD United States Dollars WAEMU West African Economic and Monetary Union WAMZ West African Monetary Zone WB The World Bank Group Abbreviations and Acronyms 5 FOREWORD The African continent faces many socio-economic development challenges. Among them is the high level of political instability and fragility in many countries, and the displacement and impoverishment this causes on the citizenry. Yet, Africa is not alone in this predicament. The World Development Re- port (World Bank, 2011) states that an estimated one and a half billion people around the world live in areas affected by fragility, conflict and large scale organized criminal violence. Many countries in West Africa can be classified as fragile using the commonly indicators of fragility. For example, the Failed State Index for 2008 shows West African countries are either in the alert or warning category with a majority being in the former (Rice and Patrick, 2008). Similarly, the Ibrahim Index of African Governance (Mo, 2010) also shows that most countries in West Africa were in the bottom 25 on the governance ranking. Further, the Index of State Weakness in the Developing World for 2009 shows that eight countries in West Africa were in the top thirty weakest countries in the world. This is the bottom quintile of this fragility ranking. A global analysis of worldwide fragility in 2009 using a group of nine commonly used indicators showed that, with the exception of the Global Peace Index, at least 50% of the world’s ten worst performers are African countries. These data show that there is at least one West African country in each of these top ten states (worst performers). Thus, given the link between political stability and development, these classifications demonstrate that fragility is indeed a major development challenge in the sub-region. This publication, “Fragile States and Development in West Africa”, is a synthesis of the empirical ex- periences and lessons learnt from five member States of the sub-region on strategies to address fragil- ity and post-conflict challenges. The experiences illustrate the diverse nature of the sources of fragility, the manifestations of fragility and the range of strategies at both national and sub-regional levels to create a peaceful environment and pursue socio-economic development objectives. The publication emphasizes the importance of good governance (including strengthening of public institutions) in creating a platform on which the social contract between the state and its citizen remains cardinal and stability is upheld. The importance of a fully inclusive approach in dealing with manifestations of fragility to build lasting peace and security are emphasized in the national analyses. This message is carried out throughout the report. Addressing the three pillars, peace, state capacity and economic re- construction, is presented as imperative to a holistic approach to overcome fragility and post conflict challenges. Importantly, the publication emphasizes the significance of preventing conflict through addressing the potential causes in a timely manner. The publication further re-emphasizes the im- portance of peace, stability and security to the attainment of development objectives including the Millennium Development Goals. 6 Fragile States and Development in West Africa I strongly believe that the recommendations in this publication will help strengthen the policy envi- ronment on addressing fragility to ensure that the sub-region takes necessary steps towards maintain- ing peace and security as a pre-condition to facilitating socio-economic development. The experi- ences provide comfort in the demonstrated commitment by all countries to address the individual challenges through assistance from development partners and the support which sub-regional organi- zations are willing to lend to member States facing challenges. The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Sub-Regional Office for West Africa is com- mitted to collaborating with the ECOWAS Commission and its member States in order to collectively address the socio-economic development challenges in the sub-region. This publication is a demon- stration of that commitment. The Commission will continue to engage with the member States of the sub-region to help tackle impediments to sustainable development and work tirelessly towards the enhancement of the livelihoods of citizens. This publication was made possible through collaboration with the ECOWAS Commission under the multi-year programme of cooperation, and the input from member States of the sub-region through active participation in the meeting that reviewed the draft reports and developed the sub-regional recommendations. The Government of Sierra Leone, through the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, provided logistical support during the review meeting. Fatoumata Sy Ba Director ECA Sub-Regional Office for West Africa Foreword 7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This publication was prepared by Dr. Oliver Maponga and Engr. Joseph Foumbi under the overall supervision of the Director of the Economic Commission for Africa Sub-Regional Office for West Africa, Mrs. Fatoumata Sy Ba. The comments from colleagues in ECA/SRO-WA enriched this report. The publication benefited from five national reports on Guinea, Liberia, Niger, Nigeria and Sierra Leone that provided detailed and consolidated experiences in fragility and the strategies employed to address the challenges. The Economic Commission for Africa is indebted to the authors of the national reports in this pub- lication. These national reports complimented the analyses by the ECOWAS Commission and the African Development Bank on sub-regional mechanisms addressing fragility. The comments and rec- ommendations by experts who participated in an ad hoc experts group meeting organized by the ECA Sub-Regional Office for West Africa in Freetown, Sierra Leone, in March 2011 further strengthened and enhanced the content and focus of this publication. The ECA/SRO-WA is indebted to the Fragile States Unit of the African Development Bank and to all experts and reviewers who contributed to the focus of this publication. The ECA/SRO-WA acknowledges the contribution of the editor, Dr. Yves Ekoué Amaïzo. The collaboration with the ECOWAS Commission and the