Understanding Structural Transformation in ECOWAS Member States

The present paper aims to contribute in improving the understanding of structural transformation in ECOWAS member states and what it takes to make true transformation happen in these countries. The paper used data covering years 1970 to 2013 to analyze the path of transformation followed by selected developed countries (France, United Kingdom and Japan) and emerging economies. For the emerging economies a difference is made between the BRICS (Brazil, China and India) and non-BRICKS (Indonesia, Korea and Malaysia) countries. The paper then looks at the path followed by ECOWAS member states to see if there are similarities. The paper finds that the path of transformation followed by developed and emerging economies are almost similar whereas that followed by ECOWAS member states are for the majority different