How can peace be more successfully sustained in West Africa? This Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) paper argues that efforts at resolving conflict have suffered from a lack of attention on the post-conflict imperatives of building peace. It highlights the necessity for taking preventive measures in the form of peace building as a sustainable and long-term solution to conflicts in West Africa.
West Africa is extremely varied in terms of political composition. There are sixteen countries with differences in size, in colonially inherited languages and norms, and in levels of economic endowment and development. Nine are francophone, five are Anglophone and two are Lusophone. The various low intensity and deadly conflicts going on in Africa have serious implications for development. Given that these conflicts have raged on and off for many years in the West African sub-region, for example in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Senegal, it is time for African leaders and various stakeholders to begin designing sustainable solutions to these conflicts.
Though various methods of conflict management and resolution have been used in trying to resolve some of Africa’s intractable conflicts, the results have not been satisfactory.
- The mixture of colonial tutelage and experiences led to a situation in which diverse regional multilateral cooperation arrangements and institutions emerged after independence. This has created problems in recent times for coordinating peace efforts and regional cooperation.
- The ‘post-cold war’ transition period has been characterised by the drive towards democratisation on the one hand, and the re-emergence of ethnic nationalism on the other. Both have contributed to exacerbating the low-intensity conflicts in the region. In Nigeria, democracy resulted in an unbridled display of ethnic identity struggles.
- Instead of conflicts being resolved, what is often more common is some kind of resurgence. In part this is to do with the tensions generated by ‘new wars’, such as Sierra Leone, where conflicts are characterised by struggles between armed factions rather than mass-based political ideologies.
A regional peace-building approach to addressing conflicts is a more sustainable way of ensuring the stability of the West African sub-region. The following should be uppermost in the minds of those involved in the peace-building process in West Africa:
- There is a need to make the political leaders and those who aspire to leadership positions realise that their first priority is to improve the welfare of their peoples, and not themselves, relatives and cronies.
- There is also the imperative for a unified conflict resolution mechanism in West Africa. Efforts should be made to see how the new Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) conflict resolution mechanism and the non aggression accord could be integrated for more effectiveness in addressing conflicts within the sub-region.
- This should be done bearing in mind the other efforts at containing conflicts within the ambit of the African Union (AU), and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) frameworks.
- Contextual understanding of each case is necessary for effective intervention. In principle, the complexity and contradictions inherent in the historical and social processes of the particular situation should be taken into account.
