Proceedings of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Energy Symposium: Energy for Survival Held at Freetown, Sierra Leone (Africa) November 2-6, 1981

摘要

Severe energy problems plague the 16 member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), including those exporting petroleum. Two particular problems are characteristic of the region. The first is deforestation which is leading to lower agricultural productivity, climatic changes, and reduced individual productivity because of the labor and time required to collect fuelwood. The second problem is the purchase of petroleum by countries, causing negative balance of payments, which in turn diverts financial resources from the other development programs. The objectives of the ECOWAS Energy Symposium were to bring these problems to the attention of policy makers and to decide upon a course of action.