PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH ECONOMIC PLANNING IN WEST AFRICA

Problems facing development planners or associated with economic planning in West Africa include:

Political instability: Political instability or frequent changes in government often leads to change in plans.
Inadequate capital: Inadequate capital makes economic planning difficult to achieve.
Misplacement of priorities: Resources are sometimes diverted to investments that yield no economic benefit to the people.
Insufficient statistical data and information: Insufficient statistical data and information, which implies that most of the planning is done on wrong projection, is a problem associated with it
Inadequate skilled personnel: Inadequate skilled labour and experts make plan implementation difficult.
Rapid population growth: The emergence of rapid population growth destabilises planning.
Reliance on foreign aid: Overreliance on foreign aid and adherence to their conditionalities lead to plan failures.
Corruption and nepotism: Economic planning is affected by corruption and nepotism. Planned decision may be influenced by selfish and parochial considerations.

PROBLEMS WITH ECONOMIC PLANNING IN WEST AFRICA

Poor implementation plans: Unexpected, sudden increases in the cost of projects compared to original estimates affect planning.
Fluctuation in foreign exchange: Fluctuation in foreign exchange earning on which plans are based may hinder implementation of economic plans.
Burden of national debt: This burden of national debt can also affect the implementation of economic plans.
Inadequate harmonization: Inadequate harmonization of the private and public sectors can also affect economic planning.
Under-utilization of labour: The services of skilled labour and experts are under-utilzied while making use of unskilled labour. For this reason, projects are inadequately studied and not well implemented.