Cultural Exchanges and their Implications for Regional Integration in West Africa: A Case Study of Ghana and Nigeria

Abstract

Regional integration scholars have written extensively on the role culture plays in the overall success or otherwise of regional integration the world over. The role of culture in the integration of Africa has also received some attention. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in 1987, realizing the importance of culture to regional integration, and accepting that the ECOWAS region had such cultural diversity that could be harnessed for the good of the sub-region, promulgated a Cultural Protocol. 31 years after the promulgation of the Protocol, very little is known about how member states have implemented the Protocol. Employing primary and secondary data, this study sought to fill this gap, using Ghana and Nigeria as case studies. The study found, among others, that bilateral cultural agreements, which is the first objective of the Protocol, has not been achieved between ECOWAS member states The study concludes by proffering some recommendations for mitigating these challenges, such as public-private partnerships and the sensitization of the populace on the benefits of the cultural activities to the individual governments and to the ECOWAS.