Contraintes structurelles, politiques nationales et coopération régionale : quels déterminants des échanges entre les pays d'Afrique de l'Ouest

Since 1993, the prospects of intra-regional trade in West Africa have been strongly debated. Foroutan and Pritchett (1993) explain the low level of trade between Sub-Saharan African countries by structural factors. In opposite, Naudet (1993) shows that trade growth potential is important between west african countries. This question is of crucial interest because the seven countries of UEMOA have emphasized the willingness to strengthen their economic relationship in January 1994. The paper tries to highlight the different determinants of intra regional trade. Structural factors, national economic policies and regional cooperation are distinguished. It shows that effective regional cooperation is an important factor to intensify trade between developing countries. UEMOA could be hence in the future the cornerstone of the regional development in West Africa.