Law In West Africa Research Articles

Economic Growth and Unemployment Issues in Ten (10) Selected West African Countries: A Panel Data Analysis

The economic growth of nations continue to be one of the main issues that economists have been interested in analyzing. In effect, several theories have emerged to explain the growth of nations including the Okun’s law which tests the relationship between economic growth and unemployment. Using the World Bank Dataset, the study tested the validity of Okun's Law in West Africa by employing fixed effect regressions to control for inconsistencies of the OLS estimates due to omitted variable bias. The random and time-fixed effect regressions confirm the validity of the Okun's Law in West Africa. The time-fixed effect regression shows that, economic growth will decline by 0.311 annually for every unit increase in the rate of unemployment. Time variant effects such as changes in policy provides a stronger case for the effect of unemployment rate volatility on the growth of these economies. It is therefore recommended that, various stakeholders adopt efficient fiscal and monetary policies aimed at lowering the rate of unemployment thereby expanding economic growth. One of such policies could be the reduction of the high corporate tax rates in the region that is bedeviling African countries by preventing industries and businesses from being built.

From International to Regional Health Law: A West African Perspective

The development of health law in Africa has usually been addressed within the context of human rights law in general and the right to health in particular. This has placed the State at the centre of the subject, as States bear the responsibility of recognising, promoting, and protecting the rights of individuals and communities, and it is from this perspective that the right to health in Africa – and elsewhere – has been developed. Consequently, questions of State capacity arise when considering the ability of States to meet the obligations relating to the right to health adequately. There is, therefore, an inextricable link between a State’s governance capacity and its obligations regarding the right to health – and health law. Therefore, the development of health law is tied to discussions about how governments undertake efforts to protect the health of their citizens, given the challenges and limitations they face. This article moves the discussion up a level, exploring the existence and nature of a West African Health Law. It, first of all, describes the origin and features of regional health law; then, it provides a brief history of the development of regional health governance in West Africa, from colonial times; and finally, it goes on to explore the existence of features of regional health law in the current West African landscape, under the auspices of the Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS) and its specialised institution for health. It identifies the main features of regional health law in West Africa as comprising: a rule-making function; the development of norms and standards of practice among states; and the establishment of a governance framework that promotes compliance and enforcement. In conclusion, the paper claims that the development of regional health law in West Africa has moved along a state-centric course and suggests that this might be responsible for some of the challenges in implementation.

The Case for the Harmonisation of Commercial Law in West Africa

The realisation of West Africa’s objective of economic growth and sustainable development has been the basis behind a further push towards regional integration over the past two decades. This paper puts up a case on the need for a harmonised system of laws to regulate commercial transactions within the region by addressing two core aspects of promoting regional trade namely: a) The existence of an economic body and;b) A legal system to govern the commercial laws of countries within the region. In light of the recent formation and success of OHADA, an organisation charged with the task of harmonising commercial laws in Africa, this paper analyses OHADAs impact and its potential for success if applied in across West Africa whilst comparing OHADA with other advocated approaches to the harmonisation of commercial law in West Africa.

Transnational trafficking and the rule of law in West Africa: a threat assessment

Transnational trafficking and the rule of law in West Africa: a threat assessment

Notes on the anthropological study of Islam and Muslim societies in Africa

In this paper, I consider the interpretation of and the ethnographic production about Islam and Muslim societies, particularly in Africa. The Orientalist ‘doctrine’ of an unchanging and timeless Islam has long been shown to be inadequate for understanding the obvious diversity and complexity within and between Muslim societies. However, the limitations of certain anthropological studies—notably, their almost exclusive focus on local context and cultures to which they sometimes attribute different ‘Islams’ (e.g., African Islam)—have not been critically examined to the same degree. I argue that one must study Islam as a discursive tradition at the intersection of the local and the supralocal, including broader scriptural traditions of Islam. Drawing on ethnographic and historical research on Islamic law in West Africa, I show how Muslims in Mali participate in the supralocal discourses of Islam and some of the ways in which local and regional history and culture shape their participation in these discourses.

Legal Intervention in Planning Regulations: Cooper v Wandsworth in a West African Context

One of the most important problems facing many West African cities in recent times is rapid and seemingly uncontrollable urbanization '. The enormous pressure which these developments have had on public systems in general - sanitation, sewage, housing, health care and transport, has forced many cities to think of innovative ways of handling these crisis. Planning departments with substantial expertise in urban problems, are being set up or are being re-organized to meet these new challenges. The powers that planning departments have, and their impact on the lives of ordinary citizens cannot be over-estimated. To prevent abuse of power and to make them responsive to the needs of citizens, several methods are used to control them. Judicial review of administrative actions is the legal method used to control many public bodies in English speaking West African countries. In this article, I shall argue that in spite of its strengths, there is a general tendency to use judicial review to protect common law values like individual proprietary rights against the claims of state institutions. In West Africa, because of the weakness of public institutions, the intervention of the law, while protecting important private rights may hamper administrative effectiveness. Anticipating the use of the leading English case, Cooper v Wandsworth2 in reviewing planning decisions in West Africa, I shall conclude that such a position may not only diminish administrative effectiveness, but it may also diminish property rights.KEY WORDS: Planning, Administrative Effectiveness, Common Law in West Africa, Cooper v Wandsworth, Statutory Interpretation.

W. C. Ekow Daniels: The common law in West Africa. (Butterworth's African Law Series, No. 9.) lvi, 424 pp. London: Butterworths, 1964. 75s.

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The Sources of Nigerian Law by A. E. W. Park Lagos, African Universities Press; London, Sweet & Maxwell; 1963. Pp. xvii + 161. 32s. 6d. - The Common Law in West Africa by W. C. Ekow Daniels London, Butterworth, 1964. Pp. lvi + 424. 70s.

The Sources of Nigerian Law by A. E. W. Park Lagos, African Universities Press; London, Sweet & Maxwell; 1963. Pp. xvii + 161. 32s. 6d. - The Common Law in West Africa by W. C. Ekow Daniels London, Butterworth, 1964. Pp. lvi + 424. 70s.

The Common Law in West Africa. By W. C. Ekow Daniels. [London: Butterworths. 1964. lv and 424 pp. 75s. net.

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The Interaction of English Law With Customary Law in West Africa

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