How Deep the Split in West Africa?
Article Summary and Author Biography
The recent division of West Africa into what often appear to be two quite unreconcilable groups of independent states has seemed to justify the worst fears of those who have held that personal rivalries and cold-war issues would destroy African hopes for unity of outlook and action. Today the "Casablanca" group, with Ghana and Guinea among its most active members, and the larger, looser association of "Monrovia" countries, with Nigeria in the lead, do indeed appear to be at odds. Yet curiously, on some of the most important issues, their viewpoint is very much the same. For example, almost on the same day, in July, experts of the Casablanca group, meeting in Conakry, and experts of the Monrovia group, meeting in nearby Dakar, announced plans for economic coöperation which were startlingly similar.
The recent division of West Africa into what often appear to be two quite unreconcilable groups of independent states has seemed to justify the worst fears of those who have held that personal rivalries and cold-war issues would destroy African hopes for unity of outlook and action. Today the "Casablanca" group, with Ghana and Guinea among its most active members, and the larger, looser association of "Monrovia" countries, with Nigeria in the lead, do indeed appear to be at odds. Yet curiously, on some of the most important issues, their viewpoint is very much the same. For example, almost on the same day, in July, experts of the Casablanca group, meeting in Conakry, and experts of the Monrovia group, meeting in nearby Dakar, announced plans for economic coöperation which were startlingly similar.
The Conakry meeting recommended ending customs barriers between the Casablanca countries over a five-year period beginning January 1, 1962, and ending quota systems and preferential treatment on the same date. It also proposed creation of a Council of African Economic Unity (C.U.E.A.) and an African Economic Development Bank. These will be further discussed at Tangier in November, and formation of a joint air and shipping line will be taken up at a later conference.
The meeting at Dakar was called to examine in detail the list of subjects agreed on at Monrovia in May. The discussions were so detailed that they even included the possibility of a common form of driving test. An African development bank was considered, with the objective, among others, of encouraging foreign investors. In the end the conferees did not go as far as the Casablanca group had done at Conakry: it recommended promotion of trade between African countries by regional customs unions and the progressive establishment of common external tariffs, harmonization of development policies, including investment codes and conventions, an investment and guarantee fund, exchange of economic information, and harmonization of economic research. It is apparently intended that coöperation should even go as far as to include common policies on prices paid to farmers for export crops-a measure designed to discourage smuggling.
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