Student Number : 0414488P - MA research report - School of Social Sciences - Faculty of Humanities / This study aims at highlighting the politics of international cooperation with respect to monetary integration in West Africa. Monetary integration was envisaged in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) when the organization was formed in 1975. Two decades after its formation, it was realized by member states that limited success had been achieved as far as the objectives of the organization were concerned. As a result, the ECOWAS Treaty was revised and significant decisions were made in 1993, and the call for a monetary union was reiterated. Factors which could have worked against the formation of a monetary union prior to 1993 changed in favour of monetary cooperation. The adoption of the Euro in the European Union and more especially by France, weakened the symbolic link of the CFA Franc zone to France, and to an extent reduced the French stigma, which had hitherto discouraged Anglophone countries from participating in an expanded monetary union with their Francophone counterparts. The democratic transition of Nigeria and the accession to power of a new leader who has shown commitment to regional integration, improved cooperation arrangements among ECOWAS states in working towards the formalization of a monetary union. The transformation from the Organization of African Unity (OAU) to the African Union (AU) and its strategy of creating a common African currency as well as the emergence of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) provided extra motivations for African states to show more commitment towards integration. Based on the above factors, several positive steps have been taken towards the formalization of a monetary union in the community. The West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) was realized in 2000 and more importantly, the West African Monetary Institute (WAMI) was created and started operating in the same year. The Institute was created to prepare the groundwork for the creation of the West African Central Bank. The above mentioned factors increased the prospects of forming a monetary union in the community but several challenges still remain. First there is the problem of the asymmetric nature of the economies in the region. Secondly, political instability is a major factor that militates against the formation of such a union. Domestic political instability in Nigeria, which is heightened by ethnic and religious differences as well as the asymmetric nature of her economy in relation to those of other states in the region, makes it difficult for a monetary union to revolve around her. This research project is centered on Treaties, statistical analysis, theories and concepts and literature from economic and financial institutions. We conclude by stating that the analysis here reflects the situation on the ground and provide lessons to member states of the community, prospects for monetary integration would be further improved if member states work coherently to overcome such challenges.

The past decade's globalisation has become an increasingly important topic in international business. Firms, therefore, search for business opportunities in new markets, where the aim is to increase revenue. However, many of the world’s developed economies are becoming more saturated, which leads to firms looking for opportunities in emerging countries. Recent studies and statistics indicate that the West-African region is developing thus leading to increased buying power and population growth. The purpose of this thesis is to research how firms can exploit opportunities which derive from the development in the West-African market, and sub-sequentially how the risks are managed. This study is conducted with a qualitative research method with an abductive approach based on eight MNC’s with experience from Ghana and Nigeria. Due to the lack of previous research on especially how firms exploit opportunities, it was key for the authors to go back and forth between empirical findings and the literature review to achieve a holistic view of the topic and find gaps in the existing literature. The authors further have created a conceptual framework based on previous literature which provided themes combined with the operationalisation to answer the research questions. The analysis discusses the existing literature combined with the empirical findings and the authors’ thoughts in the context of West-Africa. Lastly, a concluding chapter with results, theoretical- and practical implications, limitations, societal contribution and suggestion for further research is presented. The result of the thesis has provided further knowledge of how firms exploit opportunities and manage risks as well as how important the network is for firms entering West-Africa. The most significant finding shows that a firm needs to access the correct network upon entering Ghana and Nigeria in order to exploit any opportunity. The authors suggest that managers need to access the correct network via an agent providing them with local specific knowledge to overcome a lack of knowledge and initial risks. Further building upon the initial agents’ network will enable them to explore further opportunities within the West-African region.

Na África Ocidental iniciou-se desde a década de 1940, com a criação da União Econômica e Monetária do Oeste Africano (UEMOA) em 1945, uma transformação socioeconômica centrada na redefinição das relações entre os países da região. Antes restritas à laços coloniais, com a criação da Comunidade Econômica dos Estados da África Ocidental (CEDEAO) em 1975 as mudanças transcenderam aspectos coloniais. Nesses esforços, o setor agrícola mereceu destaque, que resultou em compilação e harmonização das políticas agrícolas dos países da região para formar políticas regionais do setor - políticas agrícolas da UEMOA e da CEDEAO -. A produção agrícola é a base do desenvolvimento dos países da África Ocidental, constitui importante determinante das dinâmicas socioeconômicas desses países. Assim, o objetivo neste trabalho é investigar a estrutura de produção, desempenho e comércio internacional do setor agrícola da África Ocidental. Utilizou-se a fronteira estocástica na forma funcional transcendental para estimação dos parâmetros estruturais da produção agrícola. Buscou-se detectar o esforço pró-desenvolvimento agrícola por meio de adaptação do modelo de Lei Dinâmica de Verdoorn, com inclusão de fontes locais disponíveis para o financiamento da melhoria de produtividade agrícola. Por meio de teste de raiz unitária aplicado aos dados em painel, foi analisada a convergência da produtividade agrícola entre os países da África Ocidental. E, foi utilizado o modelo gravitacional estrutural expandido para investigar comércio internacional agrícola da região. Os resultados mostraram que, as transformações da Comunidade Econômica dos Estados da África Ocidental (CEDEAO) constituem principais causas da quebra estrutural no setor agrícola regional. As participações relativas dos fatores na produção agrícola entre os subperíodos antes e depois das mudanças políticas da CEDEAO são diferentes, a área é o mais importante determinante da evolução desta produção. Quanto a produtividade, embora convergentes, os países da região não alocaram prioritariamente os recursos disponíveis para o desenvolvimento agrícola, em particular no setor privado. E, o padrão global das transações agrícolas internacionais desta região é dominantemente definido pelas transações extra-regionais e existem diferenças entre os determinantes intra e extra-regionais. Nas transações globais, os fluxos são maiores entre os países membros da Comunidade Econômica dos Estados da África Ocidental (CEDEAO) e União Econômica e Monetária do Oeste Africano (UEMOA) não afeta significativamente esses fluxos. Ao passo que, no comércio agrícola intra-regional a CEDEAO não impacta significativamente e os fluxos são maiores entre os países membros da UEMOA. A distância geográfica não exerce efeitos significativos no comércio internacional agrícola extra-regional da África Ocidental. / In West Africa, it began since 1940s with fundation of West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) in 1945, a socioeconomic transformation centered on the redefinition of relations between the countries of the region. Previously restricted to colonial ties, with the creation of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in 1975 the changes transcended colonial aspects. In these efforts, the agricultural sector was highlighted, which resulted in the compilation and harmonization of the agricultural policies of the countries of the region to form regional policies of the sector - agricultural policies of UEMOA and ECOWAS -. Agricultural production is the basis of development of West African countries, an important determinant of the socioeconomic dynamics of these countries. Thus, the objective in this work is to investigate production structure, performance and international trade of West African agricultural sector. The stochastic frontier was used in the transcendental functional form to estimate the structural parameters of agricultural production. It was sought to detect the pro-agricultural development effort by adapting the Verdoorn Dynamic Law model, with the inclusion of local sources available to finance the improvement of agricultural productivity. Using a unit root test applied to the panel data, the convergence of agricultural productivity among West African countries was analyzed. And, the expanded Structural Gravity Model was used to investigate the region\'s international agricultural trade. The results showed that the transformations of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are the main causes of the structural break in the regional agricultural sector. The relative participation of factors in agricultural production between the subperiods before and after the ECOWAS political changes are different, the area is the most important determinant of the evolution of this production. In terms of productivity, although convergent, the countries of the region did not allocate the resources available to agricultural development as priority, particularly in the private sector. And, the overall pattern of international agricultural transactions in this region is dominantly defined by extra-regional transactions and there are differences between intra- and extra-regional determinants. In global transactions, flows are higher among member countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) does not significantly affect these flows. Whereas, in intra-regional agricultural trade, ECOWAS does not have a significant impact and flows are greater among WAEMU member countries. Geographical distance has no significant effect on West African extra-regional agricultural international trade.

L'Afrique doit vivre au rythme de la mondialisation, sinon, dit-on, elle courrait le risque de se marginaliser, alors qu'elle dispose des outils pour cette adaptation. A cet effet, elle doit lutter contre la fragmentation de ses marchés et se construire des espaces régionaux supranationaux. Dans cette optique, l'intégration économique a été choisie par les Etats de l'Afrique de l'Ouest comme une voie de développement, car le cadre d'un marché unifié permet d'éliminer les rentes monopolistiques. Les Etats africains engagés dans ce processus d'intégration dépassent le cadre restreint de leurs marchés confinés, en vue de la création d'un espace commun de libre concurrence. Toutefois, le jeu de cette libre concurrence peut être faussé par certaines pratiques anticoncurrentielles, qu'il faut donc réglementer. L'avènement d'un environnement concurrentiel, principal objectif des organisations d'intégration ouest-africaines que sont l'UEMOA et la CEDEAO, ne sera donc possible qu'au moyen de règles conduisant à une concurrence effective. L'effectivité d'un droit communautaire de la concurrence dépendra essentiellement de sa mise en œuvre et de sa cohérence avec le cadre économique dans lequel s'exerce la liberté de concurrence, c'est-à-dire le Marché commun. Par la mise en œuvre d'une politique de concurrence et la mise en place de politiques économiques efficaces pour le fonctionnement du Marché commun, l'Afrique de l'Ouest parviendra au développent économique. La thèse met en évidence la nécessaire interaction entre l'efficience du Marché commun et la politique régionale de concurrence en Afrique de l'Ouest, à travers les instruments de construction du Marché et les instruments de la protection de la concurrence. / Africa should live in the frame of globalization. Otherwise it could be pushed off despite it owns proper tools for such an adaptation. Africa should wrestle against markets segmentations and built up supranational economic areas. In this aim economical integration, has been set up by western African countries as a way for development, in as the frame of a single markets allows elimination of monopolies. African states involved in this integration process overcome the restricted areas in the view to create a free competition space. Nevertheless, this free competition might be disturbed by anti-competition practices, to be regulated. Coming to a competitive surrounding, main target for West African unions (such as UEMOA and CEDEAO), won't be affordable apart from adopting rules leading to a true competition. Effectiveness of community competition law will be mainly linked to its implementation and its cohesion with the economical frame where is applied the free competition i.e the common market. Western Africa will reach economic development by setting up a competition policy and economical efficient policy. The thesis underlines the necessary interaction between un efficient common market and original competitions policy in western Africa thru legal instruments for building up the markets and competition protection.

Les IDE sont au cœur de la mondialisation et des rapports Economiques Nord-Sud. La question de leur protection et de leur régulation juridique se pose avec acuité. Devant la rareté des autres sources de financement du développement et d’accès à la technologie, l'IDE constitue une source importante pour combler l'insuffisances des ressources internes. raison pour laquelle, les pays d'Afrique de l'ouest se livrent à une concurrence farouche pour les accueillir. Dans la sous région ouest africaine le droit et la réglementation sont utilisés comme des instruments importants pour mesurer l'attractivité et la sécurité juridiques des pays. Le sujet s'interroge, analyse la dimension sécuritaire(traitement et garantie) a t'elle permise une plus grande promotion et d'accueil des IDE?. Notre sujet tentera d'analyser et situer l'effectivité du régime juridique des investissements étrangers au plan interne( codes des investissements, codes miniers et codes pétroliers). Mais aussi au plan externe( Traité bilatéraux d'investissement TBI,conventions sectoriels de protection arbitrage et garantie). Le dernier axe de ce travail de recherche, est le phénomène de la Communautarisation de la protection avec les tentatives d'harmonisation et d'uniformisation des réglementations nationales en Afrique de l'Ouest. Le dernier aspect, c'est l'institutionnalisation à travers les Organisations Economique Internationales (Banque Mondiale et Banque Africaine de développement BAD) du système juridique de protection en Afrique de l'Ouest. / "The protection of foreign direct investment in developing countries: the example of West Africa"FDI is at the heart of globalization and north-south economic relations. The question of their protection and legal regulation is acute. Faced with the scarcity of other sources of development finance (development aid) and the difficulties of access to technology, FDI is an important resource for filling the insufficiency of internal resources. This is why African countries in general, and those in West Africa in particular, are competing vigorously to receive foreign capital by providing them with an attractive, secure and non-discriminatory legal and institutional framework. Indeed, in the West African subregion, the law is used by States, but also by subregional integration organizations such as ECOWAS as an important instrument for demonstrating economic attractiveness. Thus, the analysis and measurement of the legal and institutional framework for FDI in West Africa will be discussed. In other words, has the security dimension of the investment (reception, processing, guarantee and settlement of disputes etc.) allowed for greater promotion and reception of investments from these countries?The interest of the subject is multiple. Indeed, at the legal and academic level, it allows to know, analyze and situate the entire legal regime of foreign investment at the internal level (investment code, mining code, oil code). At the external level, there is a multitude of conventions - such as bilateral BIT investment treaties -, accession to the relevant international investment conventions, and of course the increasingly visible and visible role of Community law in through the "communitisation of the law of foreign direct investment". The study of this subject shows the deep gap that exists between theory and practice in the FDI legislation of the countries of this part of Africa. If, upstream, the texts are more or less similar to those of the advanced countries, downstream, the execution of the texts by the public administrations makes mediocre the environment and the practice of the businesses. This theme on the legal protection of investments raises other questions and issues such as: the intervention of more and more actors and the instruments negotiated within them (World Bank, ADB, WTO, OECD, ECOWAS and UEMOA). etc.). There are also new issues related to environmental issues, corporate social responsibility and heritage issues. Finally, the problems posed by new types of investment, particularly PPP public-private partnerships, will be studied. The current nature of the research is striking, as there are several issues related to investment protection in countries such as West Africa. It is about the transfer of technology in a new context, the industrialization by the natural resources, the contribution on the development of the host country and the creation of jobs especially in an international context where Africa became again attractive.

O presente estudo consiste na mais completa revisão taxonômica e análise filogenética dos camarões de água doce da família Euryrhynchidae Holthuis, 1950. O trabalho foi realizado com base em material depositado em coleções carcinológicas do Brasil, Estados Unidos e vários países da Europa. A análise filogenética incluiu todas as espécies da família Euryrhynchidae, além de 7 espécies de outras famílias de Palaemonoidea Rafinesque, 1815 que foram relacionadas à Euryrhynchidae em trabalhos anteriores: Desmocaris trispinosa (Aurivillius, 1898) (Desmocarididae Borradaile, 1915); Palaemon carteri (Gordon, 1935), P. pandaliformis (Stimpson, 1871), Troglocubanus gibarensis (Chace, 1943) e Tr. inermis (Chace, 1943) (Palaemonidae Rafinesque, 1815); Typhlocaris galilea Calman, 1909 e Ty. lethaea Parisi, 1920 (Typhlocarididae Annandale & Kemp, 1913). Leander paulensis Ortmann, 1897 (Palaemonidae) foi escolhida para o enraizamento da árvore. O estudo também apresenta uma análise detalhada da diversidade morfológica presente em Euryrhynchidae no âmbito dos demais palaemonóideos. A revisão taxonômica confirma a validade das 7 espécies atualmente descritas para Euryrhynchidae, além de propor 2 novas espécies relacionadas a Euryrhynchus amazoniensis Tiefenbacher, 1978. As espécies Euryrhynchus amazoniensis, E. burchelli Calman, 1907, E. pemoni Pereira, 1985 e E. wrzesniowskii Miers, 1877 são redescritas e ilustradas com base na série tipo e material adicional estudados. Também são propostos caracteres diagnósticos adicionais para diferenciar as espécies de Euryrhynchus Miers, 1877, anteriormente separadas apenas pelo número e posição dos espinhos no carpo e mero do pereiópodo 2. A análise cladística foi composta por uma matriz de 102 caracteres morfológicos e resultou em 4 árvores igualmente parcimoniosas. O monofiletismo da família Euryrhynchidae também foi recuperado, sendo sustentado por 10 sinapomorfias não ambíguas. O gênero Euryrhynchina Powell, 1976 aparece como táxon mais basal da família e grupo irmão do clado Euryrhynchoides Powell, 1976 + Euryrhynchus. A topologia obtida para os gêneros de Euryrhynchidae sugere a presença de um táxon irmão a Euryrhynchina (ainda não descoberto ou já extinto) no continente sul americano. A análise também revelou a existência de dois grupos monofiléticos dentro de Euryrhynchus, com o relacionamento de E. wrzesniowskii com esses dois clados ainda não resolvido. Typhlocarididae aparece como grupo irmão de Euryrhynchidae, corroborando o resultado de estudos morfológicos anteriores. Desmocarididae, proposto em trabalhos recentes como grupo irmão de Euryrhynchidae com base em dados moleculares, surge mais à base, inserido entre os táxons de Palaemonidae. / The present study comprises the most complete taxonomic revision and phylogenetic analysis of the freshwater shrimps of the family Euryrhynchidae Holthuis, 1950. The study was based on material deposited in carcinological collections from Brazil, United States, and several other European countries. The phylogenetic analysis included all species of the family Euryrhynchidae and 7 species from other families within the Palaemonoidea Rafinesque, 1815 that were related to Euryrhynchidae in previous studies: Desmocaris trispinosa (Aurivillius, 1898) (Desmocarididae Borradaile, 1915); Palaemon carteri (Gordon, 1935), P. pandaliformis (Stimpson, 1871), Troglocubanus gibarensis (Chace, 1943) e Tr. inermis (Chace, 1943) (Palaemonidae Rafinesque, 1815); Typhlocaris galilea Calman, 1909 e Ty. lethaea Parisi, 1920 (Typhlocarididae Annandale & Kemp, 1913). Leander paulensis Ortmann, 1897 (Palaemonidae) was used as outgroup. This study also includes a detailed analysis of the morphological diversity present in Euryrhynchidae compared to the remaining palaemonoids. The taxonomic revision confirms the validity of the 7 species described in Euryrhynchidae and describes 2 new species related to Euryrhynchus amazoniensis Tiefenbacher, 1978. The species Euryrhynchus amazoniensis, E. burchelli Calman, 1907, E. pemoni Pereira, 1985 and E. wrzesniowskii Miers, 1877 are redescribed and illustrated based on the type series and additional material examined. Additional diagnostic characters are proposed to differentiate the species of Euryrhynchus Miers, 1877, previously separated only by the armature of the carpus and merus of the pereiopod 2. The cladistic analysis was composed by a matrix of 102 morphological characters and resulted in 4 equally most-parsimonious trees. The monophyly of the family Euryrhynchidae was obtained, supported by 10 unambiguous synapomorphies. The genus Euryrhynchina Powell, 1976 appears as the most basal taxon of the family and sister group of the clade Euryrhynchoides Powell, 1976 + Euryrhynchus. The topology obtained for the euryrhynchid genera suggests the presence of a sister taxon to Euryrhynchina (not discovered or extinct) in South America. The analysis also revealed the existence of 2 monophyletic groups within Euryrhynchus, with the relationship of E. wrzesniowskii to these clades still to be resolved. Typhlocarididae appears as sister group of the Euryrhynchidae, corroborating results from previous morphological studies. Desmocarididae, proposed in recent studies as sister group of the Euryrhynchidae based on molecular data, emerges more basally among the palaemonid taxa.

The problem of this study was to describe the operation and organization of Francophone Baptist Publications and to learn the publication needs of missionary personnel in the six countries served by the organization. Information for the study was gathered from Baptist history books, minutes from organizational meetings, questionnaires, and personal interviews with office and missionary personnel. The study revealed that although 47 per cent of those receiving questionnaires responded, only 28 per cent knew the materials and the organization sufficiently to evaluate them. This led to the conclusion that a lack of communication between the center and the missionaries exists and that the center should keep the market informed of materials available. The responses indicated that the present publications priorities do not reflect the real needs of the missionary personnel.

Cette thèse dont la problématique est partie de la polémique au niveau du nombre des affixes dans la langue fon, elle nous a conduits à nous demander si l'on peut procéder à la dérivation affixale sur les noms propres fon ? Nous avons résolu cette problématique à travers les différentes parties qui constituent cette thèse.Nous avons d'entrée, abordé la théorie de la "Commutation" dont l'application commence par l'identification des unités phonologiques, leur définition et leur classement en fonction de leurs traits oppositionnels, et contrastifs, et aussi comment ces unités se combinent entre elles. Nous réalisons que dans langue fon, la composition et la dérivation sont aussi des facteurs de formation des noms et des verbes. Notre démarche dans ce domaine a été de suivre un ordre logique en partant des unités les plus petites en allant vers les plus grandes : phonèmes, syllabes, mots phonologiques.Un état de l'art de la lexicologie et de la lexicographie est fait. Il reste néanmoins encore embrionnaire, malgré le fait qu'il ait été débuté avec la pénétration européenne, les œuvres des missionnaires, et la mise en œuvre de nouveaux chantiers à l'avènement de l'indépendance.Une partie, traite de la morphologie dérivationnelle, c'est une des parties les plus importantes de la thèse. Dans une approche onomastique, elle met en œuvre la dérivation de la nomenclature du nom des rois d'Abomey, la structure organisationnelle du pouvoir à la cour royale à laquelle s'ajoute la méthode matricielle de création de nouveau noms. Dans le même orde d'idée, une étude syntaxico-morphologique du système de numération a été faite afin de facilter le comptage en langue fon. A travers une analyse ethnolinguistique, nous avons traité à travers une typologie variée, les anthroponymes événementiels : choix des noms de personnes ayant trait à la vie, au sort, à la destinée, à la mort, à la famille, à la fécondité, à l'amitié et à la réussite, du nom des jours, des mois et les noms de personnes qui sont nées tel ou tel jour de la semaine, ces noms qui tiennent compte des réalités locales et ethnologiques.Dans une perspective dynamique, après avoir fait le bilan de la lexicologie et de la lexicographie depuis la période mécanographique jusqu'au début d'informatisation, c'est-à-dire la lexicologie et l'automatisation, la dictionnairique pour aboutir à la création d'un dictionnaire étymologique bilingue dans les langues fon et français.Les apports sont à la fois quantitatifs et qualitatifs, car, notre problématique ayant été résolue, nous avons ouvert une perspective vers l'informatisation des langues d'une part et d'autre part sur le problème d'émergence des langues nationales en tant que facteurs de développement pour répondre aux Objectifs du Millénaire pour le Développement (OMD).Mots clésAffixe, axe syntagmatique, axe paradigmatique Bénin commutation, dérivation, langue fon néonymie, monème, onomastique, noms propres, phonème, royaume du Danxomε, roi d'Abomey modélisation, TICE. / This thesis that the issue is part of the controversy in the number of affixes in the Fon language , it led us to ask if we can make the affixal derivation on his own names ? We solved this problem through the different parts that make up this thesis .We input , discussed the theory of "Switch " , the application starts with the identification of phonological units , their definition and their classification according to their oppositional traits , and contrastive , and also how these units are combined they . We realize that in his language, composition and derivation are also factors training nouns and verbs . Our approach in this area has been to follow a logical order from the smallest units up to larger : phonemes , syllables, phonological words.A state of the art of lexicology and lexicography is done. However there is still embrionnaire , despite the fact that it was started with the European penetration , the works of missionaries, and the implementation of new projects in the advent of independence.Part deals with derivational morphology , it is one of the most important parts of the thesis. In an onomastic approach, it implements the derivation of the nomenclature of the names of the kings of Abomey , the organizational structure of power in the royal court to which is added the matrix method of creating new names. At the same orde idea, a syntactic and morphological study of the numbering system was made to facilter counting in his language. Through an ethno-linguistic analysis, we processed through a varied typology , event anthroponyms : choice of personal names related to life, fate , the destiny, death, family, fertility, friendship and success , the names of days, months and names of people who were born on a certain day of the week, names that reflect local and ethnological realities.In a dynamic perspective , after taking stock of lexicology and lexicography for tabulating the period until the beginning of computerization , that is to say, lexicology and automation, dictionaric to lead to the creation bilingual etymological dictionary in fon and French languages.Inputs are both quantitative and qualitative , because our problem has been resolved, we opened a perspective towards the computerization of languages on the one hand and the other hand on the problem of the emergence of national languages as factors of development to meet the Millennium development Goals (MDGs ) .KeywordsAffix, syntagmatic, paradigmatic axis, Benin, switching bypass néonymie Fon language , morpheme , onomastics , names, phoneme kingdom Danxomε king of Abomey modeling CTBT.

L’Afrique de l’Ouest est particulièrement exposée aux changements climatiques et anthropiques qui exercent une pression croissante sur les ressources hydriques et végétales, dont la bonne gestion constitue un enjeu scientifique majeur. Plus particulièrement, il devient indispensable de mieux comprendre les échanges d’énergie et de matière au sein du continuum surface-atmosphère qui régissent une bonne partie du cycle hydrologique et du développement de la végétation. À cet égard, l’évapotranspiration constitue une variable clé à l’interface surface-atmosphère car elle recycle la plus grande partie des précipitations vers l’atmosphère et assure le couplage des cycles de l’eau et de l’énergie. En Afrique de l'Ouest, les connaissances actuelles sur ce processus restent limitées car elles reposent principalement sur des mesures de terrain représentatives de petites échelles spatiales, ou sur des modèles de surface complexes, dont l’importance des jeux de données qu’ils requièrent limite leur application. Dans ce contexte, ce travail de thèse vise à améliorer notre connaissance de la variabilité spatiotemporelle de l'évapotranspiration, en analysant le potentiel de la télédétection pour son estimation en Afrique de l'Ouest. L'approche proposée repose sur une comparaison des produits d'évapotranspiration par télédétection disponibles et la proposition d’une nouvelle méthode permettant la génération de nouveaux produits. L’étude a été menée sur trois sites de méso-échelle (~ 104 km2) fournissant un échantillon des conditions éco-climatiques rencontrées en Afrique de l’Ouest, avec du Nord au Sud : le Nord-Sahel (au centre-est Mali), le Sud-Sahel (au sud-ouest Niger) et la zone soudanienne (au nord Bénin). Une méthode d’estimation de l’évapotranspiration journalière par télédétection et de son incertitude épistémique, nommée EVASPA S-SEBI Sahel (E3S), a été élaborée. E3S a été appliqué sur les trois sites d’étude à partir de données issues des capteurs MODIS à bord des satellites TERRA et AQUA. Les estimations journalières d’évapotranspiration ont été évaluées par rapport aux observations pluriannuelles acquises par l’Observatoire AMMA-CATCH. Cette étude souligne le potentiel d’E3S pour l’estimation de l’évapotranspiration journalière en Afrique de l’Ouest. Toutefois, ces estimations restent soumises aux aléas de la mesure satellite (qualité des images, couvert nuageux, angle de visée trop grand) et sont donc ponctuées de lacunes. Ces travaux de thèse proposent également de nouvelles méthodes de reconstruction de séries d’évapotranspiration journalières via la combinaison d’estimations multi-résolution et multi-source. Cette étude montre la pertinence de ces approches de reconstruction par rapport aux méthodes d’interpolation standards utilisées dans la littérature. Les approches proposées permettent notamment de mieux retranscrire la réponse des surfaces terrestres aux séquences d’assèchement du sol entre deux épisodes pluvieux. Les nouveaux produits générés ont été introduit dans l’exercice d’inter-comparaison incluant huit autres produits disponibles en Afrique de l’Ouest à diverses résolutions spatio-temporelles. Ces produits ont été évalués à différentes échelles spatiales et temporelles par rapport aux mesures locales et aux simulations spatialisées de vingt modèles de surface générées dans le cadre de l’expérience ALMIP2. Cette étude met en évidence la forte variabilité inter-produit, en particulier au Sahel. Elle souligne par ailleurs l’importance de la prise en compte d’une information liée au stress hydrique dans la génération des produits d’évapotranspiration. La résolution kilométrique des produits E3S leur fournit un avantage indéniable concernant la description de la variabilité spatiale des flux d’évapotranspiration par rapport à d’autres produits à faible résolution. Les produits nouvellement générés présentent un potentiel évident pour de futures études à caractère éco-hydrologique et hydrogéologique au Sahel. / West Africa is particularly vulnerable to climate and human-induced changes, exerting increasing pressure on water and plant resources. Sound management of the latter requires substantial scientific progress. In particular, it is essential to better understand energy and matter exchanges through the surface-atmosphere continuum, which are a major driver of the hydrological cycle and of vegetation development. In this respect, evapotranspiration is a key variable, as most of precipitation returns to the atmosphere by evapotranspiration and as it couples the water and energy cycles. In West Africa, current knowledge of this process is still limited because it is mainly based on field measurements that are representative of small spatial scales, or on land surface models that would require considerably more data than available in this region. In this context, this thesis work aims at improving our knowledge of the spatiotemporal variability of evapotranspiration, by analyzing the potential of remote sensing to estimate evapotranspiration in West Africa. The proposed approach is based on an inter-comparison of available remote sensing evapotranspiration products and on the proposal of a new method to generate new estimation products. The study was carried out over three mesoscale sites (~ 104 km2) providing a sample of the eco-climatic conditions encountered in West Africa, namely from North to South: the North-Sahel (in East-Central Mali), the South-Sahel (in South-West Niger) and the Sudanian zone (in North Benin). An improved remote sensing method for estimating daily evapotranspiration and its epistemic uncertainty named EVASPA S-SEBI Sahel (E3S) was developed. E3S was applied to the three study sites using data from the MODIS sensors onboard TERRA and AQUA satellites. Daily evapotranspiration estimates were evaluated against pluriannual observations acquired by the AMMA-CATCH Observatory. This study highlights the potential of E3S for estimating daily evapotranspiration in West Africa. However, these estimates are still subject to hazards of satellite measurements (image quality, cloud cover, large satellite view angle) and are therefore discontinuous. This thesis work also proposes new methods for reconstructing continuous daily evapotranspiration series by the combination of multi-resolution and multi-source estimations. The study shows the capabilities of these reconstruction approaches compared to the standard interpolation methods usually found in the literature. In particular, the proposed approaches allow better depicting the response of terrestrial surfaces to soil drying sequences between rainfall events. The newly generated evapotranspiration products were included in the product inter-comparison together with eight other products available in West Africa at various spatial and temporal resolutions. These products were evaluated at different spatial and temporal scales against local measurements and spatially distributed simulations by twenty land surface models from the ALMIP2 experiment. This study highlights the high inter-product variability especially in the Sahel. It also emphasizes the importance of taking into account information related to water stress in the generation of evapotranspiration products. The kilometric resolution of E3S products gives them a clear advantage in terms of description of the spatial variability of evapotranspiration flux compared to other coarse resolution products. The newly generated products show clear potential for future eco-hydrological and hydrogeological studies in the Sahel.

This thesis studies print culture in colonial Lagos against the background of the public sphere, and brings together a variety of English-language and Yoruba-language newspapers. Such an approach allows for highlighting the practicalities of newspaper production and foregrounding the work accomplished by newspapermen in a changing 'information environment' and political context. It offers insights into Lagos politics, contributes to the history of the educated elite, and to more global histories of communication. Using newspapers as well as archival records, and focussing on events that strikingly reveal dynamics in the public sphere, this thesis narrates a nuanced history of a discursive field which was, amongst other things, central for Lagos politics. This thesis complicates a Habermasian notion of the public sphere as an open discursive space, and not only highlights that the public sphere was an arena of contested meanings, but also illustrates axes along which the composition of this social structure was negotiated. When newspapers emerged in the late nineteenth-century, discussions in the press were largely restricted to the elite. The economy of recognition that was at play in the public sphere was to change in the 1920s. This thesis highlights how newspapermen and contributors sought to carve out niches for themselves in the public sphere in new ways and how their becoming a speaker in this discursive field was challenged and contested. It highlights the nuanced ways in which newspapermen and contributors convened publics through their papers: how they did so around particular issues, in distinction from each other, and how they adapted the convening of publics to new political dynamics in the 1940s. This thesis gives insight into the complex relationship between English-language and Yoruba-language newspapers, and moreover illustrates how the practicalities of the newspaper business were coming to bear on dynamics in the public sphere.