Precolonial era

Postcolonial era Following World War II , nationalist movements arose across West Africa. In 1957 , Ghana, under Kwame Nkrumah , became the first sub-Saharan 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 Côte d'Ivoire, and a succession of military coups in Ghana and Burkina Faso . AIDS is also a growing problem for the region, particularly in Côte d'Ivoire and Liberia. Famine has been a problem in parts of northern Mali and Niger, the latter of which is currently undergoing a food crisis . Since the end of colonialism, the region has been the stage for some of the most brutal conflicts ever to erupt. Among the latter are: Nigerian Civil War First Liberian Civil War Second Liberian Civil War Guinea-Bissau Civil War Ivorian Civil War Sierra Leone Civil War