BIOFUELS IN WEST AFRICA: FROM INSTITUTIONAL VACUUM TO MULTIACTORS PARTNERSHIP IN STRATEGY FORMULATION AND POLICY IMPLEMENTATION

摘要

This paper focuses on the actors’ games and institutional arrangements related to configurations andpolicies in the sectors of biofuels in four West African countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal. Twomodels of production are currently observed in these countries: a short circuit designed for a local use of biofuels andan industrial one oriented toward the national and regional or export. The process of biofuels’ emergence in thesecountries shows that the interplay between public and private actors at local, national or regional levels is complex.This paper analyzes and contrasts the roles and rules of the main actors around biofuels sector in West Africancountries and the way biofuel-related strategies are defined in a multi-actors context. The direction has not alwaysbeen defined through a public-private consultation in some countries. This led to an institutional vacuum currentlyobserved at different stages in several countries instead of a multi-stakeholder partnership such as in Mali. Moregenerally, the paper shows that a successful approach to develop biofuels rely on the "4 C" like Coordination,Cooperation, Consultation and Contract-based links among the actors involved in the sector. The conclusion is thatpublic policy formulation creates a favorable institutional environment for a sustainable development of biofuels andappears to be a significant condition to achieve structural effects in the countries.