West African countries are referred to as under-developed for the following reasons:
(i) There is political instability in West African countries.
(ii) The level of illiteracy is high.
(iii) There is mass unemployment and under employment
(iv) There is perennial problem of balance of payment.
(v) There is low per capita income as a result of low savings and investments.
(vi) There is low level of technological development.
(vii) There is also poor social and economic infrastructural development, e.g. education, health services, poor roads.
(viii) The dependency ratio is high
(ix) There is low capital for investment
(x) There is predominance of rural sector.