West Africa is the most populated region in Africa, home to over 420 million people and natural resources such as petroleum, diamond, gold, timber, and cacao. West Africa and the United States cooperate on issues including trade, development aid, climate-related issues, intra-African conflicts, and immigration.
Trade and Development
West Africa has experienced GDP (Growth Domestic Product) growth of 3.5% in 2019 and 3.6% in 2020. The U.S. has significantly increased trade with several West African countries including Nigeria ($3.2 billion), Ghana ($1.8 billion), and Cote d’Ivoire ($1.2 billion) in total goods traded (two-way) during 2019. The primary platform created in an attempt to stimulate U.S.-Africa trade is the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), established under the Clinton administration in 2000. This preferential trade agreement facilitated stronger commercial ties between the U.S. and selected beneficiary countries in Sub-Saharan Africa by allowing eligible countries to gain duty-free access to the U.S. market for thousands of products. Fifteen countries in West Africa were eligible for AGOA benefits in 2020, although many argue the eligibility requirements for countries can be too stringent, and the trade growth since AGOA was established has been inconsistent. Most countries registered gains in exports, although many exports, especially those derived from fuel, have been largely unsteady and have limited market diversification and expansion.
The United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID)’s West Africa Trade and Investment Hub (WATIH) exemplifies a more recent venture to further integrate West African businesses into U.S.-African trade through a five-year $140 million trade and investment activity. This program seeks to catalyze sustainable economic growth and increase competitiveness through market-based strategic partnerships with the private sector. The primary objectives are to improve food security in West Africa, create job opportunities for women, and increase investment and exports in key growth sectors.
Other initiatives enacted by Congress such as the U.S. African Development Foundation (USADF) aim to provide grants to small enterprises in underserved communities in Sub-Saharan Africa to strengthen operational assistance, business expansion, and market integration. USADF has made strides in generating partnerships with Benin, Nigeria, Ghana, and Niger with over $20 million in investments in more than 50 local businesses impacting millions of lives.
Dissension over the history of United States development programs in Africa is pervasive. Many experts argue the system is plagued with profligate investment and is unsustainable or inefficient, frequently only benefitting a small fraction of individuals. Despite these concerns, trade between the United States and West Africa is on the rise.
Intra-African conflicts
Since 2020, West Africa has experienced 5 coups d’état in Chad, Mali, Guinea, and Burkina Faso due to security challenges aggravated by ongoing conflicts with jihadist insurgents in the greater Sahel region. The region is no stranger to internal conflict, with the recent turmoil aggravating the situation of food insecurity, political corruption, violence, inflation, and refugees or displaced peoples.
Washington attempts to mitigate conflict through the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), established in 2007 as a combatant command responsible for U.S. Department of Defense operations and security cooperation on the African continent. American troops have been deployed to Niger to provide training, logistics, and intelligence to assist the Nigerien and Malian military’s fight against jihadists affiliated with Al-Qaeda, and to assist in the Boko Haram-induced conflict in northern Nigeria. In 2020, the U.S. halted military cooperation with Mali following the coup and has limited most of its military presence in West Africa to Niger.
Climate Change
Conflict in the Sahel has complicated access to food and water in the region and is a major contributor to the high number of nearly 40 million food-insecure people in West Africa. This situation has been exacerbated by climate-related issues, with climate change likely to lower crop yields and production, resulting in a rise in the price of food for communities, especially in rural areas. Following the minimal success of the West Africa Biodiversity and Climate Change (WA BiCC), a five-year climate support juncture that ended in 2021, USAID created the West Africa Biodiversity and Low Emissions Development (WABILED) program. WABILED aims to enhance the capacity of national and regional networks and institutions to enforce wildlife trafficking laws in West Africa, lower deforestation and forest degradation, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions through technology and knowledge management support and funding.
Immigration
Rural to urban movement has dominated internal migration patterns as well as the crucial seasonal migration from inland to coastal areas due to droughts, reduced crop yield, or heat waves. By 2050 it is predicted that nearly 32 million people will be displaced within their own countries in West Africa due to climate factors. Those already attempting to leave the region have been characterized as climate migrants or climate refugees.
In 2019, approximately 2.1 million sub-Saharan African immigrants lived in the United States. While the region accounts for roughly one-third of the population of sub-Saharan Africa, the chart below demonstrates that West Africans make up nearly half of the total population of sub-Saharan African migrants to the United States. The Trump administration was criticized for its 2020 travel ban, which restrained entry and visa issuance that could lead to permanent residency for several Muslim-majority countries, including Nigeria. The Biden administration lifted the ban, although the impact it had on West African immigration today is still unclear.
