West Africa

===Postcolonial era===
{{Further|Decolonisation of Africa|Postcolonial Africa#West Africa|Neocolonialism}}
{{See also|Neocolonialism#Françafrique|West African CFA franc|Status of forces agreement}}

Following [[World War II]], nationalist movements arose across West Africa. In 1957, Ghana, under [[Kwame Nkrumah]], became the first West African colony to achieve its independence, followed the next year by France's colonies (Guinea in 1958 under the leadership of President Ahmed Sekou Touré); by 1974, West Africa's nations were entirely autonomous.

Since independence, many West African nations have been submerged under political instability, with notable civil wars in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Ivory Coast, and a succession of military coups in [[History of Ghana|Ghana]] and [[History of Burkina Faso|Burkina Faso]].

Since the end of colonialism, the region has been the stage for some brutal conflicts, including:
* [[Nigerian Civil War]]
* [[First Liberian Civil War]]
* [[Second Liberian Civil War]]
* [[Guinea-Bissau Civil War]]
* [[First Ivorian Civil War|Ivorian Civil War]]
* [[Sierra Leone Civil War|Sierra Leone Rebel War]]
* [[Mali War]]