ABSTRACT
In arid, northern West Africa the requirements for building design are very different from those in the south. Buildings for people in West Africa range from the simplest grass hut to the office tower block or modern presidential palace. The mining industry is not seriously affected by the climate, although in the rains the working of open-cast mines and quarries and transportation of minerals can be hampered. The availability of construction materials usually reflects the climate, from the skin or cloth tent of the desert, to clay and mud, wood and grass in the seasonally or more permanently humid areas, as does the way in which the materials are used. Something of the variation in interior climate that can occur in the various buildings can be deduced from observations made by C. Peel. The impact of climate upon economic life anywhere in the world is considerable and, in many cases, very obvious.
