Journal of Business & Economic Policy

West African Economies and Post Colonial Growth Convergence
Kanfitine Lare-Lantone, PhD; Young D. Nwoye, Ph.D; Emmanuel Anoruo, Ph.D

Abstract
We tested the neoclassical growth convergence assumption on the ECOWAS member countries towards the former colonizing countries’ income growth rates over the period 1960-2020. We set each country’s target income to be the shares of the colonizing country’s post-colonial annual incomes equivalent to the ratio of their independence year incomes. Empirical results and growth convergence figures reveal that none of the member countries’ income reached the common steady state level. Comparatively, there have been more income growth rate convergences between the member countries and their former colonial countries in the last four decades of the period. There was higher intra growth convergence among former French colonies than between former British colonies and between former Portuguese colonies. As a group they converged more towards their income targets than others did. The results suggest that, in the post-colonial period, former colonizing powers transferred inadequate levels of capital and technology to allow the reach of the common steady state level by all.

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