The central theme of this book "Growth and Development in West Africa" may seem commonplace and pedestrian because it has been widely studied and debated. However, the subject remains relevant because of the complex and ambiguous nature of the concepts of growth and development. Past analyses of the themes in general focused more on the economic factors with a special emphasis on macro-economic data. Yet in developing countries like those in West Africa, data on macro-economic indicators are rare, deficient and often, of poor quality. Even when they exist and are of good quality, they are not...