ECOWAS and WAEMU as Tools for Promoting Export Diversification

Sammanfattning: This paper examines export diversification with main focus on the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a union promoting economic integration in the region of West Africa. The West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), another Regional Integration Agreement (RIA), is also of main importance for the study. The study was conducted in order to determine whether ECOWAS and WAEMU, as unions, are broadening export diversification among its member states. If that would be the case, it would encourage other countries and unions to follow, especially in developing regions. To examine if there has been progress in export diversification within the region, regression analyses on the number of exported commodity groups and the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index have been executed. The paper will provide empirical support for the hypothesis that economic integration has led to export diversification in Western Africa.