West Africa

A staff member of on-line retailer Jumia, pushes a cart loaded with goods at the company's warehouse in Lagos April 10, 2014. There are two main reasons people shop online: it's cheaper or they can't be bothered with a trip to the store. And in Lagos, a city of 21 million people, a trip to the store can kill your entire day if you lose the traffic lottery. Jumia has 100,000 Nigerian customer accounts and sales are increasing by 15 percent a month. REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye (NIGERIA - Tags: BUSINESS)

Africa in Focus

Quantifying the impact on Nigeria of the African Continental Free Trade Area

Yewande Olapade and Chukwuka Onyekwena

Wednesday, September 22, 2021

A man works on bamboo mat in Monrovia, Liberia, October 14, 2017. REUTERS/Thierry Gouegnon

Africa in Focus

Liberia improves in economic opportunity but still tax mobilization, infrastructure, and business environment struggle to see gains

Tamara White

Thursday, September 16, 2021

French soldiers of the "Belleface" Desert Tactical Group (GTD) conduct an area control operation in the Gourma region during the Operation Barkhane in Ndaki, Mali, July 27, 2019. Picture taken July 27, 2019. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

Order from Chaos

20 years after 9/11, jihadi terrorism rises in Africa

Alexandre Marc

Monday, August 30, 2021

West Africa

Does West Africa need a single currency?

Eswar Prasad and Vera Songwe

Thursday, August 19, 2021

Reports

Report

The impact of COVID-19 on industries without smokestacks in Senegal

Ahmadou Aly Mbaye, Fatou Gueye, Massaer Mbaye, and Abdou Khadir Dia

Tuesday, July 27, 2021

Waitress and an African open-air bar with coconuts and beer. Travel and vacation in West Africa. Aqua Safari Resort. Ghana, Volta, Ada - January 14, 2017

Report

Employment creation potential, labor skills requirements, and skill gaps for young people: Ghana case study

Ernest Aryeetey, Priscilla Twumasi Baffour, and Festus Ebo Turkson

Tuesday, June 29, 2021

A worker sorts baobab fruit at the Bioessence factory, a cosmetic and nutrition company using baobab and shea products, in Dakar June 19, 2013. Bioessence exports many of its products to the United States. REUTERS/Joe Penney (SENEGAL - Tags: BUSINESS)

Report

Employment creation potential, labor skills requirements, and skill gaps for young people: A Senegal case study

Ahmadou Aly Mbaye, Fatou Gueye, Assane Beye, Abdou Khadir Dia, and Massaer Mbaye

Monday, April 5, 2021

A fruit seller is seen in a market amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Adjame a neighbourhood of Abidjan, Ivory Coast June 18, 2020. REUTERS/Thierry Gouegnon.

Report

The informal sector in francophone Africa: The other side of weak structural transformation

Nancy Benjamin and Ahmadou Aly Mbaye

Tuesday, July 7, 2020

Sons of Onyeka Oguaghamba, one of the Nigerian men arrested on charges of public display of affection with members of the same sex, walk to school in Lagos, Nigeria, February 11, 2020. Oguaghamba says he was sleeping outside the hotel in car at the time of the raid and was caught up in the arrests. While he was in police detention, Oguaghamba said, his four boys were told their father had been on television. "I felt so bad, although they didn't understand what gay means," he said. "They asked me - why police arrested me and they were showing me on television. I explained to them that the police can arrest anybody at any time." REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja SEARCH "NIGERIA LGBT" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.

Terrorism & Extremism

Education and Boko Haram in Nigeria

Madiha Afzal

April 2020

Blog Posts

Paper currency F CFA (XOF) of the West African monetary union displayed in bills of 10,000 francs laid out in fan isolated on wooden background

Africa in Focus

CFA franc zone: Economic development and the post-COVID recovery

Ali Zafar

Thursday, August 5, 2021

Africa in Focus

Is West Africa ready for a single currency?

Aloysius Uche Ordu, Ali Zafar, and Jan Muench

Friday, July 30, 2021

An employee cleans a machine inside the factory of the baobab Fruit Company Senegal in Thies, Senegal June 22, 2018. Picture taken June 22, 2018. REUTERS/Mikal McAllister

Africa in Focus

Reconciling economic growth and youth employment creation in Senegal

Ahmadou Aly Mbaye, Fatou Gueye, Abdou Khadir Dia, and Massaer Mbaye

Monday, July 26, 2021

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Events

2021

Jul

Past Event

Related Books

Formal and Informal Enterprises in Francophone Africa: Moving Toward a Vibrant Private Sector

Edited by Ahmadou Aly Mbaye, Stephen S. Golub, and Fatou Gueye

2020

View All Books

Experts

Aloysius Uche Ordu

Director - Africa Growth Initiative

Senior Fellow - Global Economy and Development

AloysiusOrdu

Ahmadou Aly Mbaye

Nonresident Senior Fellow - Global Economy and Development, Africa Growth Initiative

Eswar Prasad

Senior Fellow - Global Economy and Development

EswarSPrasad

View All Experts

Multimedia

High view point cityscape of Accra, Ghana. Traffic jam on George Bush Highway with hills on the background

Up Front

A conversation with Mohammed Adjei Sowah, mayor of Accra

Anthony F. Pipa and Kaitlyn Pendrak

Wednesday, February 24, 2021

FILE PHOTO: A money changer counts Nigerian currency notes for a customer in Nigeria's commercial capital, Lagos, Nigeria March 16, 2020. REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja/File Photo

Podcast Episode

How Africa can emerge stronger after COVID-19

Aloysius Uche Ordu and Fred Dews

Friday, February 5, 2021

Trucks drive along the main road from the port city of Mombasa in the outskirts of Kenya's capital Nairobi.

Global Development

Could COVID-19 produce a ‘great reset’ for African economies?

Aloysius Uche Ordu and David Dollar

Monday, February 1, 2021

View All Multimedia

West Africa

Quantifying the impact on Nigeria of the African Continental Free Trade Area

Liberia improves in economic opportunity but still tax mobilization, infrastructure, and business environment struggle to see gains

20 years after 9/11, jihadi terrorism rises in Africa

Does West Africa need a single currency?

Reports

The impact of COVID-19 on industries without smokestacks in Senegal

Employment creation potential, labor skills requirements, and skill gaps for young people: Ghana case study

Employment creation potential, labor skills requirements, and skill gaps for young people: A Senegal case study

The informal sector in francophone Africa: The other side of weak structural transformation

Education and Boko Haram in Nigeria

Blog Posts

CFA franc zone: Economic development and the post-COVID recovery

Is West Africa ready for a single currency?

Reconciling economic growth and youth employment creation in Senegal

Events

Regional integration in West Africa: Is there a role for a single currency?

Fragility in Chad and counterterrorism strategies in West Africa

The future of peacekeeping in Africa

Related Books

Formal and Informal Enterprises in Francophone Africa: Moving Toward a Vibrant Private Sector

Experts

Aloysius Uche Ordu

Director - Africa Growth Initiative

Senior Fellow - Global Economy and Development

Ahmadou Aly Mbaye

Nonresident Senior Fellow - Global Economy and Development, Africa Growth Initiative

Eswar Prasad

Senior Fellow - Global Economy and Development

Multimedia

A conversation with Mohammed Adjei Sowah, mayor of Accra

How Africa can emerge stronger after COVID-19

Could COVID-19 produce a ‘great reset’ for African economies?

More on West Africa

How African states can tackle state-backed cyber threats

Addressing youth unemployment in Ghana by supporting the agro-processing and tourism sectors

Monetary meld

Africa in the news: Mali coup, African vaccine production, and DRC volcano eruption

How African states can improve their cybersecurity

Africa in the News: Risk of Ebola outbreak grows, South African economy rebounds, and politics update