Um dos aspectos mais importantes da nova realidade internacional é a tendência à formação de blocos regionais. A criação dos blocos ao redor do mundo representa uma estratégia de promoção do desenvolvimento para os países da periferia e, sobretudo, para os Estados africanos que são caracterizados por uma história peculiar de marginalização, países com pobreza e miséria dramáticas, ciclos de instabilidades política e militar, sequelas de séculos de explorações promovida por diversas potências. Como forma de resolver parte dos problemas que afetam o continente, os dirigentes africanos acreditam na integração econômica e política como uma das alternativas. Tratando-se dos países do oeste africano, a integração possibilita uma coordenação conjunta na solução dos problemas internos da região e nos desafios da globalização. O objetivo desta tese é de analisar a inserção da Guiné-Bissau na UEMOA. Neste sentido, o trabalho se propõe responder duas perguntas: em que medida a UEMOA pode contribuir para o desenvolvimento econômico e social guineense e quais são as vantagens e as desvantagens da Guiné-Bissau na UEMOA. Ele parte da hipótese de que a referida união é bastante útil para o país lusófono na medida em que oferece um enorme suporte na sua política monetária e fiscal, sem falar na abertura de novos mercados, embora o ciclo da instabilidade política tenha se constituído num dos principais obstáculos para o desempenho guineense no bloco. Ressalta-se que o presente trabalho foi construído com base nas consultas de diversas obras bibliográficas, e também, durante a construção desta tese, viajamos para o referido país que constitui objeto do nosso estudo, onde obtivemos alguns dados primários através do contato que tivemos com diversos dirigentes do país ligado ao tema. Entretanto, conclui-se que a inserção da Guiné na UEMOA aconteceu de forma precipitada sem que houvesse estudos aprofundados. Embora o país, por um lado, tenha alcançado um dos objetivos que é de estabilizar os preços ou controlar a inflação, assim como encontrou, na união, uma importante fonte de financiamento, o BOAD (Banque Ouést Africaine de Dévelopment), para desenvolver, reabilitar e modernizar as suas infraestruturas. Por outro lado, o desempenho guineense naquele bloco tem sido afetado pelo ciclo de instabilidades que tem dificultado a elaboração de uma estratégia que permitiria a obtenção de ganhos, seja por via do comércio internacional ou pela captação do investimento estrangeiro; com isso, o país se tornou dependente dos seus parceiros do bloco. / One of the most important aspects of the new international reality is the tendency to form regional blocks. The creation of blocks around the world is a development promotion strategy for the periphery countries and, especially to the African states, which are characterized by a peculiar history of marginalization, countries with dramatic poverty and misery, cycles of political and military instabilities, consequences of centuries of explorations promoted by many colonial powers. As a way to solve part of problems that affect the continent, African leaders, believe in economic and political integration as one of the alternatives. Concerning West African countries, the integration enables to joint coordination in solving the internal problems of the region and the challenges of globalization. This thesis aims to analyze the inclusion of Guinea-Bissau in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). Thus, the work aims to answer two questions: to what extent WAEMU can contribute to economic and social development of Guinea-Bissau, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of Guinea-Bissau in the WAEMU. It starts from the assumption that such union is very useful for the Portuguese-speaking country, once it offers a huge support in its monetary and fiscal policy, not to mention the opening of new markets, although the cycle of political instability has been one of the main obstacles to Guinea-Bissau performance in the block. It is noteworthy that this work was done in the basis of research in various literature works, and during the construction of this thesis, we traveled to the country, which is the object of our study, where we obtained some primary data through the contact we had with several leaders of the country related to the subject. However, it is concluded that the inclusion of Guinea - Bissau in WAEMU happened rashly without in depth studies. Although the country on one hand, has achieved one of its goals to stabilize prices and control inflation, as found in union an important source of funding, the BOAD (Banque Ouest Africaine de Development) to develop, rehabilitate and modernize its infrastructure. On the other hand, the performance of Guinea-Bissau in the block has been affected by the instabilities cycle that has hampered the development of a strategy that would allow the development gains, either through international trade or through the capture of foreign investment; with this, the country became dependent on its partners in the block.

Um dos aspectos mais importantes da nova realidade internacional é a tendência à formação de blocos regionais. A criação dos blocos ao redor do mundo representa uma estratégia de promoção do desenvolvimento para os países da periferia e, sobretudo, para os Estados africanos que são caracterizados por uma história peculiar de marginalização, países com pobreza e miséria dramáticas, ciclos de instabilidades política e militar, sequelas de séculos de explorações promovida por diversas potências. Como forma de resolver parte dos problemas que afetam o continente, os dirigentes africanos acreditam na integração econômica e política como uma das alternativas. Tratando-se dos países do oeste africano, a integração possibilita uma coordenação conjunta na solução dos problemas internos da região e nos desafios da globalização. O objetivo desta tese é de analisar a inserção da Guiné-Bissau na UEMOA. Neste sentido, o trabalho se propõe responder duas perguntas: em que medida a UEMOA pode contribuir para o desenvolvimento econômico e social guineense e quais são as vantagens e as desvantagens da Guiné-Bissau na UEMOA. Ele parte da hipótese de que a referida união é bastante útil para o país lusófono na medida em que oferece um enorme suporte na sua política monetária e fiscal, sem falar na abertura de novos mercados, embora o ciclo da instabilidade política tenha se constituído num dos principais obstáculos para o desempenho guineense no bloco. Ressalta-se que o presente trabalho foi construído com base nas consultas de diversas obras bibliográficas, e também, durante a construção desta tese, viajamos para o referido país que constitui objeto do nosso estudo, onde obtivemos alguns dados primários através do contato que tivemos com diversos dirigentes do país ligado ao tema. Entretanto, conclui-se que a inserção da Guiné na UEMOA aconteceu de forma precipitada sem que houvesse estudos aprofundados. Embora o país, por um lado, tenha alcançado um dos objetivos que é de estabilizar os preços ou controlar a inflação, assim como encontrou, na união, uma importante fonte de financiamento, o BOAD (Banque Ouést Africaine de Dévelopment), para desenvolver, reabilitar e modernizar as suas infraestruturas. Por outro lado, o desempenho guineense naquele bloco tem sido afetado pelo ciclo de instabilidades que tem dificultado a elaboração de uma estratégia que permitiria a obtenção de ganhos, seja por via do comércio internacional ou pela captação do investimento estrangeiro; com isso, o país se tornou dependente dos seus parceiros do bloco. / One of the most important aspects of the new international reality is the tendency to form regional blocks. The creation of blocks around the world is a development promotion strategy for the periphery countries and, especially to the African states, which are characterized by a peculiar history of marginalization, countries with dramatic poverty and misery, cycles of political and military instabilities, consequences of centuries of explorations promoted by many colonial powers. As a way to solve part of problems that affect the continent, African leaders, believe in economic and political integration as one of the alternatives. Concerning West African countries, the integration enables to joint coordination in solving the internal problems of the region and the challenges of globalization. This thesis aims to analyze the inclusion of Guinea-Bissau in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). Thus, the work aims to answer two questions: to what extent WAEMU can contribute to economic and social development of Guinea-Bissau, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of Guinea-Bissau in the WAEMU. It starts from the assumption that such union is very useful for the Portuguese-speaking country, once it offers a huge support in its monetary and fiscal policy, not to mention the opening of new markets, although the cycle of political instability has been one of the main obstacles to Guinea-Bissau performance in the block. It is noteworthy that this work was done in the basis of research in various literature works, and during the construction of this thesis, we traveled to the country, which is the object of our study, where we obtained some primary data through the contact we had with several leaders of the country related to the subject. However, it is concluded that the inclusion of Guinea - Bissau in WAEMU happened rashly without in depth studies. Although the country on one hand, has achieved one of its goals to stabilize prices and control inflation, as found in union an important source of funding, the BOAD (Banque Ouest Africaine de Development) to develop, rehabilitate and modernize its infrastructure. On the other hand, the performance of Guinea-Bissau in the block has been affected by the instabilities cycle that has hampered the development of a strategy that would allow the development gains, either through international trade or through the capture of foreign investment; with this, the country became dependent on its partners in the block.

La recherche porte sur la modernisation du cadre budgétaire des pays de l’UEMOA. Il s’agit d’évaluer la portée des réformes budgétaires développées dans chacun de ces pays. On s’est essayé à mettre en évidence la nécessaire mise en place d’une standardisation de certains dispositifs ainsi que d’une adaptation des procédures ayant fait leurs preuves non seulement dans certains États de la zone mais également dans d’autres pays confrontés à des problèmes similaires. On s’est appuyé sur les comparaisons internationales existantes et l’on a évalué la pertinence des solutions proposées notamment par les bailleurs de fonds. / This research relates to the transformation of budgetary framework of West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) countries. It is a question of evaluating the extent of the budgetary reforms undertaken in each respective country. The research has tried to highlight the necessary installation of certain standard devices as well as adapting proven reliable procedures not just for certain zones of specific countries but also other countries confronted with similar issues. This exercise was based on existing international comparisons and the evaluation examined the relevance of the solutions suggested in particular by the financing institutions.

Depuis 1939, une partie des pays de l'Afrique de l'Ouest a pour monnaie le Franc CFA d'Afrique de l'Ouest. Ces pays constituent, de fait, une zone monétaire. La dévaluation du CFA de 1994 marque le passage d'une convertibilité automatique à une convertibilité partielle. Il est alors légitime de s'interroger sur l'optimalité de cette zone monétaire surtout dans un contexte où la Zone Euro connaît elle même des difficultés.Elle a pour ambition de s'interroger sur l'optimalité de la zone monétaire l'Union Economique et Monétaire Ouest-Africaine. L'étude a donc pour objectif d'identifier si cette zone monétaire est une Zone Monétaire Optimale, (ZMO) au sens de MUNDELL (1961). L'objet d'étude soulevé ici portera plus particulièrement sur l'analyse des critères de faisabilité d'une ZMO et le passage à des critères de soutenabilité. Les critères de premier rang d'une ZMO, déterminés par les auteurs précurseurs de littérature sur la question dans les années 1960 et 1970, constitués principalement par les apports de MUNDELL, (1961).Notre travail propose de ne pas se limiter à la définition donnée par MUNDELL, même si cette théorie s'applique à juste titre pour des pays candidats à l'adhésion. Dans ce cas la Loi du Prix Unique permet de caractériser la fixité du taux de change comme étant une condition nécessaire de premier rang. Cette condition de premier ordre est non suffisante pour justifier de la soutenabilité et durabilité d'une zone. La fixité des monnaies est la deuxième condition retenue. La monnaie unique devient alors un choix rationnel qui se justifie par les avantages qu'elle procure aux pays qui l'adoptent. / Ome of the West African countries have adopted the CFA Franc (Franc of African Financial Communities) as their currency in 1939. These countries hence form a monetary zone. The devaluation of the French CFA in 1994 marked the passage from an automatic convertibility to a partial convertibility. It seems legitimate to consider the optimality of the West-African currency area - especially in a context where the Euro zone itself faces difficulties.This thesis aims to identify whether this area is indeed an optimal currency area as defined by MUNDELL in 1961. The object of study raised here will focus more particularly on the analysis of the feasibility of an OCA (Optimum currency area) and on the passage to sustainability criteria. The primary criteria of an OCA -- as determined by the founding authors in the literature of the 1960s and 1970s on the issue, MUNDELL being the main contributor (1961). This study however does not restrict itself solely to the definition given by MUNDELL, even though his theory applies rightly to countries which are candidates to entry into the union. In this case, the Law of one Price (Loop) can characterize the fixity of the exchange rate as a primary necessary condition. This proviso however is not sufficient to justify the sustainability and durability of an area. In case this latter condition is not met, the other condition is the fixity of currencies. The unique currency then becomes a rational choice which is justified by the advantages it procures countries which adopt it.

Dans cette thèse, nous étudions empiriquement les liens de causalité, au sens de Granger, entre le développement financier et la croissance économique dans le cadre de l'UEMOA et de la CEDEAO. La plupart des études dans ce domaine sont réalisées dans les domaine temporel. Ici, nous associons les domaines temporel et fréquentiel par l'utilisation de modèles multivectoriels autorégressifs. Pour ce faire, nous utilisons la méthode de décomposition de Geweke (1982, 1984) améliorée par Chen et al. (2008) afin d'obtenir, en plus des relations causales temporelles et fréquentielles, les causalités instantanées et la dépendance. Cette thèse apporte aussi une contribution théorique en proposant une méthode de calcul des p-values plus adaptée aux échantillons de petite taille. Les applications portent d'abord sur les relations causales entre finance et croissance dans les domaines temporel et spectral. Ensuite, nous examinons l'influence de l'inflation sur ces relations. Enfin, nous étudions les relations causales entre croissance et Investissements Directs Etrangers (IDE) conditionnellement au développement financier et à l'ouverture économique. / The framework of Geweke (1982, 1984) improved by Chen et al. (2008)is used in this thesis to conduct Granger causality between finance and growth in the context of West Africa. We adopt the time - and frequency- approaches to bring out instantaneous causality and dependence by employing vector autoregressive models. In this work, we propose p-values computations more suitable for small sample size. Empirical investigations examine, successively, causal links between finance and growth, the impact of inflation on these links, and the conditional relationships between growth and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to financial development and economic openness.

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2016-09-14T18:16:33Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Rafael João Dias.pdf: 1704235 bytes, checksum: e2df6e1cac0122c4bdbec9cad09f1e94 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-14T18:16:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Rafael João Dias.pdf: 1704235 bytes, checksum: e2df6e1cac0122c4bdbec9cad09f1e94 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-04-04 / Conselho Nacional de Procuradores-Gerais / The global economic transformations that have occurred in the last decades, especially in the post-Cold War, are fundamental to understand the dynamic and expanding phenomenon that comprehend the formation of regional economic blocs as strategic alternatives to develop country areas. The challenge of globalization has forced African countries to look for integration as a viable path to sustain the development zone process. The African continent shows fragile and vulnerable aspects that aggravate several challenges such as logistical infrastructure, network transport system and the persistent situation of poverty and misery, resultant of a long colonial period, political failures occurred during the post-independence period and imperialists polices. This research analyzes the state of regional integration, focusing on the commercial, economic and financial policies in regional schemes, especially on the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). The economic and monetary integration offers advantages in terms of monetary stability, growth, competitiveness, financial markets development and stronger participation in the global economic scenario. The integration can benefits the financial and commercial market, although it needs a minimum level of regional regulatory activities to define and naturally promote the intended development. The member States must organize and implement the regional activities. Particularly, the integration process is being important for the African development, however the distribution of benefits is unequal / As transformações econômicas mundiais ocorridas nas ultimas décadas, sobretudo no pós-guerra fria, são fundamentais para entender as dinâmicas e expansão do fenômeno da formação de blocos econômicos regionais como ferramentas estratégicas para os países em desenvolvimento. O desafio da globalização imposta aos países africanos impusera a necessidade da integração como alternativa viável para sustentar o processo de desenvolvimento da região. O continente Africano mostra aspectos frágeis e vulneráveis que agravam a vários desafios, tais como infraestrutura logística, sistema de rede de transporte e à situação persistente de pobreza e miséria, resultante de um longo período colonial, à qual se soma erros políticos cometidos no período pós-independência e as políticas exercidas pelos imperialistas. Este trabalho analisa o estado da integração regional no que diz respeito às relações comerciais, políticas econômicas e financeiras em regimes regionais, principalmente, União Econômica e Monetária do Oeste Africano (UEMOA). No decorrer da pesquisa constatamos que, em especial, a integração econômica e monetária regional oferece vantagens em termos de estabilidade monetária, o crescimento, a competitividade, o aprofundamento dos mercados financeiros e maior participação na economia global. Apesar dos benefícios que a integração pode trazer ao comercio e as finanças são necessárias um nível mínimo de atividades regulatórias para definir e naturalmente, promover o desenvolvimento almejado. Os Estados Membros necessitam organizar e implementar as atividades regionais. Particularmente, embora o processo de integração esteja sendo importantes para o desenvolvimento dos países membros, as distribuições dos benefícios são desiguais

Si la littérature du biais inflationniste de la Nouvelle École Classique, au travers des concepts decrédibilité et de transparence, a conduit à l'indépendance des Banques centrales, sa critique par laNouvelle École Keynésienne l'a réduit à une indépendance instrumentale et a mis en exergue le rôlede sa gouvernance, de l'importance de sa relation avec la sphère politique pour la légitimité de sonaction, ainsi que le rôle essentiel des Conseils de politique monétaire (CPM).Aussi bien en théorie que dans les faits, ce cadre institutionnel qui reflète la gouvernance montre uneBanque centrale non pas séparée du politique mais plutôt en relation avec celui-ci. Dans la mesure oùles décisions de politique monétaire sont prises par un CPM, la gouvernance concerne également sonorganisation et les procédures d’élaboration de la décision.L’objectif de cette thèse est d’analyser à la lumière de ses développements récents, la gouvernance àla BCEAO et à la BEAC qui sont les Banques centrales couvrant les deux unions monétaires de lazone franc, à savoir l’UEMOA pour la première et la CEMAC pour la seconde. Cette thèse a aussipour objectif de montrer que la pérennisation de ces deux unions monétaires passe par une meilleuregouvernance et la nécessité d’un fédéralisme budgétaire en leur sein impliquant donc une plus forteunion politique. Toutefois, nous soulignons les obstacles rendant très difficile la réalisation de cetteultime étape de l’intégration. / If the literature of the inflationary bias of the New Classical School, through the concepts of credibilityand transparency, led to the independence of Central Banks, its review by the New Keynesian Schoolreduced it to an instrumental independence and has highlight the role of its governance, of theimportance of its relationship with politicians for the legitimacy of its action and the essential role of theCouncils of monetary policy.In theory and in practice, this institutional framework that reflects governance shows a Central Bank(MPC) not separated from politics but rather in connection therewith. Insofar the monetary policydecisions, the governance, and procedures for the preparation of the decision are taken by a CPM.The objective of this thesis is to analyze in the light of recent developments, governance at theBCEAO and the BEAC which are the central banks covering two monetary unions from franc zonenamely WAEMU and CAEMC. This thesis also aims to show that the sustainability of these twomonetary unions through the benefits might enjoy better governance and the need for fiscal federalismwithin them thus implying a stronger political union. However, we highlight the barriers embarrassingthis final stage of integration.

Cette thèse est articulée autour de deux questions centrales visant à expliquer pourquoi et comment devrait être organisée la Complémentarité entre les Banques et les institutions spécialisées dans la Microfinance (CBM), afin de financer efficacement le développement dans les pays de l’UEMOA : l’Union Economique et Monétaire Ouest Africaine. Les aspects bancaires de la théorie de rattrapage économique de Gerschenkron sont adaptés au contexte de la prépondérance de l’économie informelle dans l’UEMOA. L’analyse empirique montre, quant à elle, que les secteurs bancaires et microfinanciers de l’UEMOA sont respectivement réfractaires et peu performants - en termes de rentabilité et d’impact social - pour l’autonomisation du processus de CBM. Relativement à la mise en oeuvre de la CBM, le cadre néoinstitutionnaliste de l’hybridité de la firme est mobilisé en vue d’intégrer et d’expliciter le rôle de l’autorité publique vis-à-vis des acteurs financiers privés, dont ceux du « mobile banking ». Par ailleurs, les « best practices » internationales dans la microfinance servent également de références empiriques et typologiques aux pays de l’UEMOA, en vue d’une coordination publique indirecte ou directe de la CBM. / This thesis is based on two central questions whose purpose is to explain why and how the institutional complementarity should be organized between banks and microfinance institutions (MFIs) to effectively finance the development process of WAEMU (West African Economic and Monetary Union) countries. The banking aspects of Gerschenkron’s catch-up theory are adapted to the large informal context of the WAEMU economies. At empirical level, the independent and private processes of Complementarity between Banks and Microfinance institutions (CBM) are scarce in WAEMU as long as banks avoid risks associated with adaptation to microfinance customers, and MFIs are not efficient for infrastructure modernization and expansion. Thus, to implement CBM processes, the neo-institutionalist framework of hybridity of the firm and the international best practices in microfinance are mobilized in order to clarify the role of public authorities towards private financial actors, including the mobile banking operators.

Dans le contexte de la mondialisation, le projet d'émission d'une monnaie unique en Afrique de l'Ouest, initié par la CEDEAO en 1999, offre aux petites économies de la sous-région de nouvelles opportunités. Le marché unique accroitrait la taille des marchés domestiques, favoriserait les économies d'échelle, simulerait la profitabilité des investissements et l'accroissement du Produit potentiel des économies. La présente Thèse étudie les implications associées à cette évolution monétaire projetée, dans la perspective des pays de la sous-région qui conduisent actuellement une politique monétaire et de change autonome. Les résultats montrent que les économies de la CEDEAO ne sont pas synchrones, notamment par rapport à leur cycle de croissance. L'analyse des mésalignements établit que la non-participation à une union monétaire ne protège pas contre les déséquilibres de change. Une participation de la Gambie, de la Guinée ou de la Sierra-Leone à l'UEMOA aurait été préférable, entre 1994 et 1999. Mais cet avantage se réduit ou disparaît à partir de 2000. Le bien-être mesuré par la croissance du PIB ou par l'IDH n'est pas affecté par la participation à une zone ou à une union monétaire. Toutefois, une telle participation a un effet vigoureux, positif et significatif sur le bien-être mesuré par la consommation par habitant. Globalement, malgré la faible synchronisation des économies, la participation à l'union monétaire en Afrique de l'Ouest est associée à un niveau de mésalignement équivalent ou plus faible que celui de la non-participation, sauf pour le Ghana et le Nigéria. Mais une telle participation pourrait accroître la consommation par habitant. Le projet de monnaie unique de la CEDEAO est donc pertinent pour les économies de la ZMAO.

L'objectif de cette thèse est d'analyser et comprendre les relations interafricains des processus d'intégration régionale en cours dans la partie occidentale du continent. Pour cela, nous partons de l'hypothèse que l´appartenance des Etats à plusieurs organisations d'intégration régionale est le principal problème de la construction et la consolidation d'une unité intégrée économique, politique, sociale et culturellement. L´objectif qui a conduit à la levée de cette hypothèse est venu de l'observation des incohérences entre les objectifs (communs à tous) l'intégration régionale et la création fragmentée d´institutions économiques et monétaires, basée sur les liens coloniaux et les luttes intestines est un frein à l'intégration régionale ouest-africaine. Dans cette première partie de l'enquête, qui a débuté par une brève introduction, avant de faire une revision de la littérature, et aboutit à la déscrition des processus historiques et de principe de l'intégration régionale, montrant que, malgré d'être présentées comme des organismes complémentaires d'intégration économique et monétaire en Afrique de l'Ouest, la CEDEAO, l'UEMOA et ZMOA représentent des intérêts particuliers tant sur le plan interne qu´externe, et donc le rêve de l'unité politique et économique réel prend du temps à se matérialiser. / O objetivo desta tese é analisar e compreender as relações interafricana a partir dos processos de integração regional em curso na parte ocidental do continente. Para tanto parte-se da hipótese de que o pertencimento dos Estados a múltiplas organizações de integração regional constitui o principal problema da construção e da consolidação de uma unidade integrada econômica, política, social e culturalmente. Este objetivo que originou o levantamento desta hipótese partiu da observação das incoerências entre os objetivos (comuns a todos) da integração regional e a criação fragmentada de instituições econômicas e monetárias, baseadas nos laços coloniais, e nas rivalidades internas constitui um freio integração regional oeste africano. Nesta primeira parte da pesquisa, que iniciou com uma breve introdução, passou por uma revisão da literatura, antes de descrever historicamente os processos e tentativos de integração regional permite concluir que apesar de da serem apresentadas como complementares, as organizações de integração econômica e monetárias da África Ocidental, nomeadamente a CEDEAO, UEMOA e ZMOA, representam interesses particulares tanto interna quanto externamente, e consequentemente o sonho da real unidade política e econômica demora a se concretizar. / The aim of this thesis is to analyze and understand the relationships Inter African from regional integration processes underway in the western part of the continent. For this we start from the assumption that the States belonging to multiple organizations of regional integration is the main problem of the construction and consolidation of a unit integrated economic, political, social and culturally. This goal led to the lifting of this hypothesis came from the observation of inconsistencies between objectives (common to all) regional integration and the creation of fragmented economic and monetary institutions, based on colonial ties, and the infighting is a brake West African regional integration. In this first part of the survey, which began with a brief introduction, went through a literature review, before describing historical processes and tentative regional integration shows that despite of being presented as complementary organizations of economic integration and monetary West Africa, namely ECOWAS, UEMOA and ZMOA represent particular interests both internally and externally, and thus the dream of real political and economic unity takes to materialize.