Intra‑regional food trade network in West Africa
Note: Trade flows between bordering countries in green, non‑bordering countries in red, width of the arrow weighted by value of aggregate trade 2014‑22. The following percentage of food is traded with bordering countries: Benin, 92%; Burkina Faso, 81%; Cabo Verde, 0%; Côte d’Ivoire, 61%; Gambia,1%; Ghana, 52%; Guinea, 41%; Guinea‑Bissau, 55%; Liberia, 85%; Mali, 93%; Niger, 80%; Nigeria, 83%; Senegal, 42%; Sierra Leone, 14%; Togo, 77%.
West Africa’s food trade network is both dense and far-reaching, a de facto form of regional food integration. Countries trade with a median of 12 out of 14 possible partners, and all but Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, and Gambia have at least 10 partners.
At the regional level, nearly three-quarters of trade value is between neighbours, but leading economies trade beyond their borders:
- Senegal (58%), Ghana (48%) and Côte d’Ivoire (39%) trade mostly with non-neighbouring partners, together accounting for one-third of regional flows.
- By contrast, Mali (4%), Benin (14%) and Burkina Faso (21%) trade mainly with neighbours.
Overall, interdependencies are strong, but the structure of networks differs:
- Bilateral networks: Benin-Nigeria, Gambia-Senegal, Liberia-Côte d’Ivoire, Cabo Verde-Senegal. Benin and Gambia act as entrepôt economies, re-exporting goods via porous borders to larger neighbours. Liberia shows a similar pattern with Côte d’Ivoire, while Cabo Verde maintains historic ties with Senegal.
- Trilateral/quadrilateral networks: Niger–Nigeria–Benin form a classic trade triangle rooted in border communities. The Mali-Senegal-Côte d’Ivoire triangle trades intensively in livestock, fish and palm oil.
- Multilateral networks: Seven countries (Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Togo) anchor polycentric regional food trade systems linking multiple partners and product flows.
Together, these patterns reveal a highly interconnected yet diverse regional food system, where some countries specialise in bilateral trade while others serve as hubs within wider networks.