Trade Relations between the European Union and West Africa: From Colonialism to Cotonou
The European Union has a long history of trade with West Africa. Since the colonialism of West Africa by Britain and France and up through the Yaoundé (1963) and Lomé (1975) Coventions and the Cotonou agreement (2000), the African governments have been trying to establish a beneficial trade relationship with the EU. This study examines the economic and political partnerships of the European Union, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Union économique et monétaire ouest-africaine (UEMOA) and their negotiations in these agreements. By examining a combination of primary and secondary sources including journal articles, government documents, newspapers, and consulting scholars in international trade, I examined these negotiations to find that the EU and West Africa have not benefitted equally from these agreements. This study found that West Africa has benefitted less from these agreements (some countries less than others), and therefore I examined the bargaining strategies of West Africa that have been used in the past, and how they can be adjusted to negotiate better deals in the future that will not result in further underdevelopment or exploitation.