西部非洲
唸給你聽
2022 華語
2022 英語
2022 台語
沿著撒哈拉沙漠往西南方走，便是眾多幾內亞灣國家所在地：西部非洲（簡稱西非）。西非有16個國家，除了幾個內陸國家，其餘大多圍繞著幾內亞灣，是非洲平均國家面積最小的一個區域。石油天然氣和自然礦產是這個區域的共同特色，但同時也帶來許多麻煩。
西非區域有幾個困境正在持續著。第一是接二連三的軍事政變。馬利、幾內亞和布吉納法索從2020年起陸續爆發軍事政變，不僅國內動盪不安，國際組織也藉由經濟制裁迫使政變的一方趕緊恢復文人統治，使得經濟和民生雪上加霜。第二困擾則是恐怖組織。西非國家在過去三年經歷了無數次恐怖攻擊，威脅甚至蔓延到迦納和多哥，加劇了人們對恐怖組織推進幾內亞灣的擔憂。第三則是法國撤軍的隱憂，這個我們留到馬利那天再講吧。
但西非不是沒有好消息。擁有石油和天然氣的國家們成為歐洲國家的新朋友。德國和塞內加爾簽約，茅利塔尼亞則是預計2023年開始開採天然氣。西非各國能否妥善運用老天爺給予的自然資源，就看政府們的努力了。
If you travel southwest along the edge of the Sahara Desert, you will reach West Africa where many coastal countries of the Gulf of Guinea are situated. This is probably the area which the Taiwanese people are the least familiar with so far. Most have probably only heard the names of these countries during the world cup but could not find them on a map.
There are 16 countries in West Africa. Most of them densely situated along the coast of the Gulf of Guinea, except for a few land-locked states. This region has the smallest average country size by area in Africa. The region boasts of rich fossil fuel and mineral reserves and some countries are even known for their gold and diamond mines. However, the people of these countries largely don't benefit from the wealth these resources bring. This region used to be an important French colony, leading to eight countries adopting French as their official language and the West African CFA franc as their common currency. However, countries in this region still cannot find common ground on decolonization. Tribal conflict is a severe problem in this area. News about civil wars and village massacres are not news anymore. But now, West Africa faces an ever more unsettling threat: the Islamic State (IS), an extremist group, is likely to make a comeback here.
