Culture as Catalyst and Constraint: Navigating Socio-Economic and Political Realities in West Africa

Abstract

The paper examines the way that culture in West Africa can function as both a hindrance and a promoter of economic and political development. Although it does not regard culture as merely an obstacle or as a factor that speeds things up, it maintains that cultural influences can be understood by considering their connections with history, the social and economic environment and the global economy. It traces the course of these forces through history, starting with the transformation of the African empires by their borders, moving on to the formation of modern identities and institutions, and ending with the role that resources play in shaping culture. The text illustrates that cultural resources can serve as a catalyst via mutual aid savings schemes, informal trade, trust-based networks, education, youth entrepreneurship, remittances from the diaspora, and creative sectors such as Nollywood and Afrobeats. It also examines the way in which the same or similar cultural beliefs can hinder development by reinforcing hierarchies, perpetuating gender inequality in relation to property and education, overlapping customary and state institutions, and leading to competition among ethnic or religious groups for government resources.  In the political sphere, networks based on chieftaincy and community support provide legitimacy but at the same time reinforce patronage and weaken accountability. The study looks at the shift in people's ideas concerning modernity and belonging which has been caused by migration, digital media, and the hybridisation of culture, as well as the deep inequalities revealed by resource extraction, climate change and displacement. We can conclude that the development of West Africa is the result of the interaction among values, history, institutions, and globalization, and that any policies which regard culture as a barrier or consider it as the only means of action are likely to fail.