Engendering an Endogenous Framework for Socio-economic Development in the ECOWASSub-region

Abstract

This study explores how a home-grown framework could be advanced for the process of socio-economic transformation of the ECOWAS sub-region. Subsisting cleavages toward former colonial powers (and other global powers), existence of multiple monetary zones and border posts have been hindering productive socio-economic interactions among over 300 million inhabitants of West Africa. The study analyzes how uncensored cross-border mobility and institutionalization of a single monetary zone could facilitate regional socio-economic integration and development of West Africa. It identifies extant culture of ‘transnational simultaneity’ among Nigerian migrants in Cote d’Ivoire as a formidable means in this regard. Imperative data for the study were derived from primary (interviews) and secondary (evaluative) sources.