Energy consumption and economic development in West Africa

Book · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1987

OSTI ID:5258603

Chima, C M

This study evaluates the commercial energy sector of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Presently, an economic union exists between the 16 countries of West Africa that are members of ECOWAS. Although the ECOWAS region has plentiful resources of commercial energy, it faces problems in this sector for two reasons. First is the problem resulting from the diminishing traditional energy resources such as wood fuel and charcoal. Second, most ECOWAS members, except Nigeria, are net importers of commercial energy, and hence face a high import burden for oil. Liquid petroleum is the dominant form of commercial energy used in the ECOWAS despite the availability of other resources. This author basically argues that the best policy and strategy solution for dealing with energy problems is through a combination of regional cooperative effort, and a more-intensive country level. The intensity-of-use hypothesis is tested with case studies of Ghana, the Ivory Coast, and Nigeria. The results indicate that newly developing countries can deviate from the expectations of the hypothesis.

• Research Organization: Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5258603
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290200 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Economics & Sociology
298000* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Consumption & Utilization
AFRICA
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
ENERGY CONSUMPTION
ENERGY POLICY
ENERGY SUPPLIES
GHANA
GOVERNMENT POLICIES
IVORY COAST
NIGERIA
RECOMMENDATIONS