West African Federation

Part of the country series of articles.

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West African Federation
Federal Republic
Capital	Accra
Languages	English, French, Akan, Ewe, Baoulé, Dioula, and many regional languages
Population	48,000,000

The West African Federation was formed in the 1970s, when several small coastal states of the Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire region chose federation over separate independence on the grounds that a federal union would give them greater leverage in international negotiations. The federation spans the Gulf of Guinea coast from roughly the Volta river basin west into former French territory, combining the English-speaking Gold Coast tradition with the Francophone Ivorian one – an arrangement that has undoubtedly led to its famous instability.

Accra is the federal capital, where English and French both function as official languages and most residents operate in at least one local language besides. Abidjan, the commercial capital on the Ivorian coast, holds the deeper port, the more established banking sector and a more developed commercial law infrastructure from the French colonial period. The federal government exercises legislative authority from Accra; the majority of private commercial activity is concentrated in Abidjan.

Gold, cocoa and offshore oil are the primary export commodities. The federation has directed resource revenue into infrastructure and education with greater consistency than many comparable states. The combined market of 48 million people attracts manufacturing investment, and the Atlantic coastline draws international shipping. Latin Africa to the north and east periodically asserts an interest in the federation’s Francophone states as natural members of its own political sphere, which hardens diplomacy now and then.