ABSTRACT
The West African sub-region has had over fifty years of experience in regional institution-building. These initiatives were developed in three waves, reflecting the changing responses of states and peoples of the sub-region to domestic and international political and economic environments in which they live. 1 Over the past two decades, the dynamic interactions among the push–pull factors have once again thrust West Africa into the forefront of the rise of ‘new regionalisms’ characterised by multiple-actor, cross-border coalitions of states, intergovernmental organisations (INGOs), civil society, as well as business coalitions and multinational firms engaged in the co-construction of an emerging regional governance framework (Iheduru 2003, 47–66). While aspects of the old forms and structures of regional interactions remain important in regional politics, there is evidence that a ‘new West Africa’ is emerging (Kaplan 2006).
